Fall: Here to Stay???

(Kate, I promise I'm not copying your posts!) It seems as though fall is upon us in the District (although, who knows, I may be eating my words in a few days if we have a sudden return to the heat), and I have been giddy ever since we emerged from a weeklong monsoon that gave way to cooler temperatures.

Being the New Englander that I am, the end of summer, which tends to be depression-inducing for those who fear the coming of snow and frigid winter temperatures, means, for me, an enthusiastic jump into fall. Depending on the year in DC, there may or may not be a true fall (there may just be a jump from the oppressive heat and humidity to the frigidity of winter, after a brief few-week period that could possibly resemble fall), so I couldn't be happier that this year seems to be a year when we will have a well-defined fall.

Some of my fondest childhood memories took place at the many local pumpkin patches/apple orchards in Western MA/CT. My dad, my kindred spirit in his love of fall, would pile us into the car and take us to an orchard, where we would amuse ourselves picking our own apples. One particular orchard also had a little refreshment stand with apple cider, old-fashioned sodas and cider donuts (as well as hay rides, which, I think, we took advantage of once). When we got home, my dad would either be hard at work on a pie or some delicious homemade applesauce whose sweet, cinnamon smell wafted from the kitchen throughout the house. So, for me, a crisp fall day will always be associated with memories like those.

Even though I am certainly far-removed from the stunning foliage and truly crisp fall mornings that I was spoiled with during my New England childhood, I am really excited to take advantage of the DC area's fall offerings. For example, Eastern Market, a favorite haunt of mine, is always so much more fun to walk around in the fall (despite the fact that it is open year-round). Dan and I just booked an October weekend trip to an adorable little B&B in the Shenandoahs, where we'll have easy access to great hiking (most notably Old Rag, which we've been wanting to hike for a while), as well as vineyards and quaint little country towns. I think I'll also get a Shenandoah hike in when I see my mom's side of the family over Columbus Day weekend for Grampsy's 80th birthday (yikes!), which should be fun, since there are some pretty intense hikers in my family. Dan and I also want to find an apple orchard somewhere in the DC area so we can pick our own apples (I think it also sweetened the pot that I promised I would make an apple pie, his favorite, with whatever apples we end up picking).

Do any of you have any fun fall memories (or, for you Washingtonians, any suggestions for fun fall-like things to do in the District and its environs)?

Happy Fall!

Here's a picture from a hike I took in VA last fall. So excited for more of this!

My First Half-Marathon!!!

This year, I made a New Year's resolution that I fully intended to keep. I was going to run a half-marathon if it was the last thing I did. I began amping up my runs in January/February, hoping to be able to run a race in May. Unfortunately, due to some nagging joint injuries, I was unable to do that, but pushed through the summer to reach probably the best level of cardiovascular fitness that I've ever been in. I know, I don't mean to toot my own horn and make it seem like I did an ultra-marathon or an Iron Man, but for me, the girl who could not even run a mile as a child due to exercise-induced asthma, and the girl who has struggled with some pretty nasty injuries, this was a pretty huge accomplishment (especially given the fact that I have actively HATED running for most of my life!!!).

I hadn't gotten a chance, due to terrible weather on recent weekends and my reluctance to run outside by myself at 5 a.m. on weekdays, to do a run outside longer than 10/10.5 miles, so I have to admit that I was slightly nervous going into today's race. I was lucky, though, to get the reassurance and encouragement of a few friends, one a very close friend who ran a marathon a few years ago, the other one of Dan's friends who competes in triathlons (not to mention a father who has run marathons), so that I was feeling, bright and early this morning, like everything was going to be okay.

I cannot even put into words how much I have loved having my parents back in the DC area, and I have so cherished the amount of time that we have been able to spend together since they moved back. But I truly, truly appreciated their endless kindness and selflessness this weekend when they fed me lots of pre-race pasta (and blackberry crumble...YUM! That one was definitely my dad's doing), let me stay at their house, woke up at 5 to drive me (and my friend Andrew, who was also running) and were the first, and by far the most supportive, faces that I saw at the finish line. They are incredible, and I am forever indebted to them, certainly not just for this.

So, as for the race itself, I located a 2:00:00 pace group, because that was the finish time I was shooting for. However, my plans were foiled when I quickly lost the pacer, so, following several friends' pieces of wisdom, I went at my own pace, listening to my body and not making it about the time. I don't run with a watch, and I certainly was not going to on race day just to be like all of the other runners with over-the-top superwatches. This was all about having fun! I had been worried about the fact that we could not use iPods (or anything with headphones), but, strangely, I didn't struggle when I was alone with my thoughts for that long. Dan had suggested, at our (rather, my) carbalicious breakfast yesterday, that I pick a really good song and just keep repeating it in my head. That song ended up being "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele, which, I realized afterward, was the song that my mom woke up to this morning (I heard her alarm when I walked by her room), and is just a great pump-up song for me.

I was blown away by how supportive everyone was, fellow runners, neighborhood residents and race volunteers alike. There was one particularly steep hill just before the 11-mile marker, and the one thing that got me up that hill without stopping was that I heard a bunch of women screaming words of encouragement. That kind of energy just pushes you to keep going, especially since that was the time when I was surpassing my longest run and was most certainly fading. I would definitely say that the adrenaline was there in full force for the first 3-4 miles and then again for the last 2. I had not mentally ruled out stopping a couple of times to walk throughout the race, but once I was actually running, I just kept pushing that distance at which I would let myself stop, and before I knew it, the race was over!!!!! I do have to stop when I run in the morning on the treadmill, so, for me, it was a huge accomplishment not to have to stop at all.

The last two miles are probably what I remember most vividly, that 11-mile group of neighborhood cheerleaders, and then the 12-mile marker, when I definitely said, "YESSSSSSSSSS" out loud. About a quarter-mile before the finish, there was a Girl Scout troop handing out American flags to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and, even though I was not personally affected by 9/11 because I did not lose anyone I knew, it was very poignant for me to cross the finish line with that flag in hand. I give thanks every day for the fact that I live in this country, despite its many defects, and I think the support that I felt today while I was running is a wonderful microcosmic example of the generosity of the American spirit. Crossing the finish line, that bright, shiny beacon with photographers, banners, race officials and tables piled high with cups of water awaiting just beyond it, was such an indescribably wonderful feeling, and I know that I had the broadest of smiles on my face when I crossed.

I accomplished my goal of finishing at or just under 2 hours! My official time was 2:04, but they tell you to subtract time because it is a wave start. Since my group began running 4-5 minutes after the official start, I was somewhere around the 1:59 or 2:00 mark, so I couldn't be happier with how the race turned out! I have to give a huge shout-out to all of my friends and family members who were so supportive of this dream of mine, and that positive energy was definitely one of the things that got me through this race with such flying colors. I hope this is one of many long-distance runs for me (I would love to do more half-marathons, and a marathon is definitely something that I'm eyeing sometime in the future), and this was definitely the perfect experience for my first half.

Thank you again for all of the support, now and always, and God Bless America, today and every day!
Kristen

Here's a picture of Andrew and I after the finish! I was so glad to have a friend running the race, even though he certainly ran much faster than I did!

An Ode to Wacky DC Weather

Apparently, something happened in DC last week which caused not one but TWO natural disasters to pass through the city.

The first was a magnitude 5.8 earthquake last Tuesday. I was covering for our Front Desk Coordinator's lunch and, suddenly, the glass windows and walls ahead of me began undulating violently. I froze for a moment, and I think I mouthed to the student who happened to be standing next to the desk, "Oh my God, what's going on?" before coming to my senses and realizing that this was an earthquake. The MSB's response was, in a word, terrible. There seemed to be no emergency plan in place, and the fact that upper level administrators (as well as my superiors in my own office) were panicking and yelling only made me freak out more. It was a bit of a surreal experience, and, after about 20 minutes, we were told to gather our things quickly and go home (the excuse was that the structural integrity of the building had been called into question. Really, MSB? Really? You should have thought about that when the building was being constructed while I was an undergrad.

I think that the most interesting part of the day for me was to hear the wide range of reactions, which really did run the gamut from, "Oh, that's an earthquake. Okay" (my father) to "GET YOUR THINGS AND LEAVEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" (an upper-level MSB administrator, who will remain nameless). The only thought that crossed my mind was that this was, in fact, an earthquake, while others, who had perhaps been in either DC or New York on 9/11, immediately thought that it was a bomb. We really are the post-9/11 generation, where we will always question whether a tremor or a strange noise is a naturally occurring phenomena or a terrorist attack.

Anyway, moving on, we (like much of the Eastern Seaboard) were hit over the weekend by Hurricane Irene, which was (I believe) only a Category 1 storm by the time it reached us, but wreaked havoc nonetheless. I believe that BGE reported about 160,000outages (at least that's what the TV at the gym told me this morning), and many unfortunate people are still without power. Luckily, for me, I moved in to my new apartment that same weekend (yay!), so the constant rain and wind initially provided me with justification for being a hermit for the weekend. But then, my type-A personality kicked in and I thought I might die of boredom. It reached 10:30 on Saturday night, and I was faced with a dilemma: I could either watch more mind-numbing TV on my computer, or I could put myself out of misery and go to sleep. Needless to say, I chose the latter.

I was kind of okay with old Irene...until I wasn't anymore. Dan, who had been on vacation with his family in Florida for the week, was visiting a friend in New Jersey for the weekend. Anticipating that the weather would be deteriorating, he tried to book a 2:40 train on Saturday, only to find that it was canceled. The next available train was on Monday morning at 5:15, which, when he called on Sunday afternoon to book it, he was ASSURED by Amtrak, would leave on-time. When he called back at around 10 that night to get his passenger number, he was told that the train had been canceled since Saturday, and the Amtrak rep had no idea why the other rep had told him that the train was going out. Understandably, he was livid. Wanting to make it back to DC sometime in his lifetime, he went to Newark and rented a car, arriving back in DC at around 3. The real kicker, though, comes when I tell you that he was phoneless. His phone had started freaking out (the screen went white, and then purple, and many shades in between) on Saturday, and by Sunday, all it was good for was dialing any number he had memorized (which was, essentially, his home number). So he got to the airport to drop off the car, and then had to look for a cab at 3:00 on a Monday morning (fact: this does not exist, at least not in DC), so, as he tells it, he was wandering the airport aimlessly, looking for anyone with a phone so that he could call a cab (because a VA cab company was not the one number he had memorized...shucks). Eventually, he made it home at around 4,and somehow survived the work day.

Moral of the story? Yes, I may have been bored out of my mind and, aside from two trips to the gym and numerous hours of unpacking, had nothing to do, my weekend paled in comparison to the suckiness that was Dan's. I'll take solace in that. Poor thing :(

(In related news, Saturday is our 6-month anniversary!!!! And, fun fact, both of our dads were also born on that day and happen to share the same first name...weird, right?!)

Because it's me (and we all know how much I love pictures), here is the now infamous tongue-in-cheek picture of DC earthquake "damage".

Countdown to My Happy Place

I'm leaving tomorrow to begin the long trek up to Winnipesaukee. It's okay, you can be jealous :) Back the 22nd!

Two Smile-Inducing Things

This morning I was looking at my favorite blog, Bippity Boppity Boo, and came across this video. It reminded me a lot of "When Harry Met Sally" because of its couples' confessionals, so I just had to share it. Although short, it is an adorable, "Awwwwwwww"-inducing video! (source: meredya via betterthanfine)

Secondly, I was on Netflix editing my DVD queue to make sure that Mad Men Season 4 would be on its way next. Dan initially got me into it, and I've been tearing through it ever since! Anyway, I discovered that it is now on Instant View!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you that I have raved about the show to, this means you have no excuse not to watch it! Why is it such an elation-inducing discovery? Because the only reason it has taken me this long to get through the series is because I have to wait for the DVDs to be shipped to me. If you're looking for me until I head to the Lake (a week from today!!!!!), you will most likely find me watching Mad Men :)

Metro FTW

I think that everyone who regularly rides the DC Metro has a love/hate (perhaps hate/hate?) relationship with it. Yes, it may get you where you need to go for the most part, but it sometimes takes its pretty time doing so.

I had an incident this past weekend where I was trying to get to my bf's in VA from my apartment in Friendship Heights. I usually plan about 45 minutes for this trip, as it includes a transfer at Metro Center. Knowing that the Red Line was single-tracking that weekend (it had taken me over an hour to get from Chinatown to FH, and the two stops are on THE SAME LINE), I left my apartment at 3:40, knowing that I wanted us leave the bf's house by 5:30 to go meet my parents for dinner. 45 minutes later, I was in Dupont...5 STOPS AWAY, and a trip that usually takes less than 10 minutes. The single-tracking was happening between Dupont and Judiciary Square, meaning that I would have to change trains to go two stops to Metro Center, then change lines at Metro Center.

My trusty little iPhone Metro app told me that a rain would be coming in 3 minutes, so I thought, 'I can handle that.' The problem was, the number of minutes kept creeping up. When it hit 10, I decided to get creative, shun Metro and its deceiving ways and take the new Circulator line to Dupont. Despite Dan's willingness to drive into the city and pick me up, God damnit, I was going to beat the Metro system! I walked out into the blisteringly hot day, so hot that the streets were relatively deserted, and there, on the corner of 19th and N, was an air-conditioned Circulator bus, just waiting for me. I was filled with glee, because I had beaten the Metro!!!

Yesterday, I was reading a friend's blog, and she linked to the DC Metro People blog, which showcases creeptastic candid pictures that some random guy takes of people riding the Metro from his iPhone. Again, kind of creepy, but I can certainly appreciate its artistic value. From there, I was linked to several other sites, including How Fucked Is Metro, which determines how fucked you are (depending on delays, wait time, etc.) depending on which Metro stop you live near. The next was Unsuck DC Metro, a humorous look at that embattled public transit system. Finally, this gem was my personal favorite. When asked what his worst escalator story was (God knows there are many, but you would have to be a regular Metro rider to know that), this gentleman replied with a humorous anecdote. Long story short, I had myself a little unintentional Metro StumbleUpon moment yesterday (without even visiting that website itself).

Stay classy, DC Metro. If the Red Line is single-tracking again this weekend, you may have one pissed off lady (yours truly) on your hands. Please try to stop sucking, and maybe then the occasional, fleeting thought of buying a car to save my sanity may cease to be necessary.

Bonus Visit!!!

This past weekend marked yet another triumphant return of Kristin and Kate to DC. Kristin had already decided that she would be coming in for the weekend, and Kate, due to unforeseen circumstances, decided that she, too, would be able to journey up to the Nation’s Capital. It was my idea to make Kate’s visit a surprise to the other girls and, I’m proud to say, the three of us did an EXCELLENT job of containing our obvious excitement.

Kate got into town on Friday (I was luckily able to take the afternoon off, especially because I was comatose after having gone to the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows midnight showing with Dan the night before), and she and I meandered down to the Sculpture Garden to stake out some spots by the fountain for Jazz. It was so wonderful to bask in the summer sun and get a chance to chat in person, because, despite having kept in very close touch due to our similar Gchat omnipresence and our willingness to Skype often, neither of those options is a substitute for the real thing. Allie and Kristin were the first of our friends to arrive, and Allie’s look of shock, her eyes getting wider and her mouth open more by the second as she broke into a jog, was priceless. Molly, sadly, did a sneak attack and, thus, saw us from behind first, so by the time she got to us, it was no longer a surprise, but she was still overjoyed to see Kate. As has become our Friday custom, we dangled our feet in the fountain, sipped our sangria and caught each other up on the happenings of the past few months. We then walked over to dinner in Logan Circle, a neighborhood whose restaurant and bar scene I have started to explore but would love to get to know better.

Given the fact that we were all exhausted, we went back to our respective homes and made plans to meet up for a late brunch the next morning. Kate, Kristin, Allie and I all wanted to run, so a late brunch seemed like the best option. For the first time in over 3 weeks, I was able to run!!!!!!!! After having been diagnosed with a sprained ankle and being told that I couldn’t run for at least two weeks, I was, frankly, depressed. I went from having a constant runner’s high to having something I love being taken away from me. Not only was I in excruciating pain, but I was also not a happy camper. But anyway, I was FINALLY able to run again!! Even though I said I would take it easy and only run a mile or two, in true Kristen fashion, I ran 3.5, mostly because I was having so much fun and had a smile plastered on my face the entire time. After some seriously annoying Metro delays, we arrived at Ted’s Bulletin in the Eastern Market neighborhood, which boasts, among other baked goods, homemade pop tarts. I cannot even begin to describe to you the deliciousness of my blueberry cheesecake pop tart. After a deeply satisfying brunch, we wandered around the market for a while, eventually finding our way back to Molly’s apartment for takeout pizza, drinks, Sex and the City and girl time.

On Sunday morning, we revisited our old haunt (Tombs) for brunch, where Dan was introduced to my few close girlfriends who he hasn’t met (Kate and Kristin). He’s such a good sport for hanging out with the gaggle of girls so often (we speak to him very frankly about the fact that we have very few guy friends), and I thought it was a very nice brunch. Then Kate and I spent some time at the pool, made Congo Bars, and, along with Molly and Allie, ordered Indian takeout for dinner and chatted. After the girls left, Kate and I hunkered down in my room and watched 30 Rock (Dan’s and my new obsession). Ever the trooper, she got up to work out with me yesterday morning, and, after a nice, leisurely breakfast spent chatting and listening to country music (yes, my other new obsession…thanks Gareth), we said goodbye for the last time before she and Dave move to TX. I really can’t wait to visit them (as soon as my finances will allow for it). I said to her as I left that, although I was sad that she and Kristin were leaving, I feel so fortunate that our group has been able to have so many reunions and mini-reunions over the past year-plus. I feel like that is so rare, and it warms my heart that my group of closest girlfriends is still so committed to making the time to see each other, despite our busy schedules and tight budgets. Even when we’re not in each other’s physical presence, we are emailing, Facebooking, Skyping Gchatting and texting, which I feel infinitely fortunate for. Hopefully the next reunion of the YaYa Sisterhood will come sooner rather than later!!!

Here are some pictures from the weekend (as well as another of Dan and I from 4th of July that one of our friends just put up):