I did it! I did it!

I got before dawn had cracked this morning and got ready to race. I woke Scott up and we were on our merry way. Scott dropped me off at Memorial Stadium. I walked in and found my training group where I met up with my running partner. I decided that I was just going to have fun on this race and not care about my time. I'm never going to win one of these and having a good time is way more important to me than shaving a minute or two off my time.


Photo by Scottmon

I made sure to take my time at the start and gently jogged through Downtown Seattle to the International District. I had lost Julie in the crowd at this point but was OK with each of us running our own race.

I entered the I-90 express lanes which is really the ugliest and more boring part of the race course where I chatted with a nice lady as we climbed up the express lanes. Once we reached the tunnel, I began running again and ran into Julie. We stuck together for the rest of the race which was really nice of her since she is a much faster runner. It makes for a better time though if you have someone to run with.


Photo by Scottmon

We whirled our ways down Lake Washington Blvd and to THE HILL! I was grateful for all the hill training I did this session as the hill wasn't as terrible as it has been in the past. I live at the bottom of a hill and usually walk quickly up the hill to start my running routes. It makes for a great butt workout even if it makes you feel like death at times.

We then entered the Arboretum and committed to running all the downhills. I also committed to walking all the uphills but Julie told me that she wasn't allowing that.

We climbed up the last hill along I-5 and then burst into running for most of mile 12. The marathon winner blew past us at about 12.5 miles. His legs were AMAZING!


Photo by Scottmon

Then I sprinted into the chute and Julie bounded ahead of me down toward the finish. I spotted Scott and my parent's and maybe even posed a bit for them. I also saw someone proposing to their girlfriend just a few feet before the finish. I thought it was cute but then got worried about her time! She needed to sprint in and then come back to say yes! But you know, I bet she wasn't really thinking about that.



In the end, I completed the course in 3:13:56 for which I was happy! My splits were 1:31:46 at the 6.2 mile (10k) mark and 1:48:14 for the last 6.9 miles.

In 2006, the year it snowed! I finished the race in 3:32:09. In 2005, I did the race in 3:00:35 and in 2002, the first year I did the race, I finished near death in 3:16:49. While this year was not my best time, it was one of my BEST times! I just had fun and that is so important to me.

T Minus One Sleep

Tomorrow morning I will get up and run the Seattle Half Marathon. Tomorrow afternoon I will gloat in the glory of being done with the race.

I CAN NOT WAIT until tomorrow afternoon!

I am getting excited about the race tomorrow though. I got up this morning and laid out my clothing and pinned my race bib onto my shirt.

But really while I'm excited about the race, I'm really anxious for it to be tomorrow afternoon already!

Skillet Time

Scott LOVES The Skillet and often talks about having lunch there. Unfortunately the location doesn't always work for us BUT today our schedule and the Skillet location worked out for us!



We headed out on a Skillet hunt on the way to pick up my race packet. Yes, I'm running the Seattle Half Marathon on Sunday because I'm insane and it will probably be more of a stumble than a run.



The menu at Skillet was short but filled with delicious food choices. I quickly selected the burger and requested poutine fries on the side. Scott ordered the same.





Seriously it was so good! I can't wait to go back again and now I know why Scott talks about it ALL the FRICKIN' TIME!



Skillet Street Food
Hours, Locations and Menus can be found on the Skillet Website.
From the Skillet Street Food Website, the concept: "We buy old Airstream Trailers, and outfit them so that they have a full commercial kitchen. We then go out to local office parks, events, farmers markets and provide impeccably executed and seasonably relevant bistro style food. Our market is people who really like food, and who appreciate food. Our goal is seattle first, the west coast/world second."

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Mom assigned me the task of making a Cherry Pie and I do love me some pie making. I purchased beautiful frozen cherries from Remlinger Farms even though they were a few more dollars than the other ones because I wanted this pie to be perfect!



I really should have listened to my gut that told me to put aluminum foil around the pie edges but I didn't so the edges got a bit (ok a lot) burnt! However the pie was so frickin delicious and the burnt edges were easily removed. Next time though, I'm listening to my littler baker's voice, it is always right.

Oh and I'm going to continue to make all my pies from the book, Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie! It has helped me make the most perfect pies!

Great Wednesday!

Today was a pretty good gosh darn day! I'm a very happy person, I admit it but in my defense, I'm not a Merry Sunshine person. I'm just someone who is easily made happy.

And today made me happy!

Work let us out early at 2 p.m. and so I bustled myself down to the storage unit to get my Christmas goodies out. Since I was living with my parents for a few years, my Christmas things have been locked up but this year they will be out for display!

Once I got home, I went for a easy jog and was having so much fun that I went a half mile longer than planned. I only headed inside because it was getting cold, COLD and I had to pee.

Now I'm making a cherry pie and baking bread while feeling pretty happy about my day.

Trophy

This past weekend, Scott and I headed over to Trophy for some afternoon cupcakes and coffee.



I love this cupcake place. Their cupcakes are just sweet enough to be delicious, just moist enough to melt in your mouth and just the right size to make your tummy happy.



We sat within view of the cupcake kitchen and were able to watch the snowballs being frosted. They looked delicious!



So skip over Cupcake Royale and head over to Trophy Cupcakes. If they are good enough for Martha Stewart, they ware good enough for me!



Trophy Cupcakes at Wallingford Center
http://www.trophycupcakes.com/
1815 N 45th St Suite 209 (between N Burke Ave & N Wallingford Ave)
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 632-7020

Monday Favorites

1. crosses quilt: layout expansion, 2. Karen Hemingway - Le tricot en 300 points, 3. Tapestry Cowl!, 4. the longer you sit there, 5. Untitled, 6. sunny, 7. quilting: process, 8. Sweet Caroline Front and Back, 9. sprout's quilt on a clothesline, 10. Para não esquecer!, 11. Hurro Mistah, 12. How Cute Am I......, 13. New Coat!!, 14. Whatever gets you through the day.., 15. polaroid*tattoo, 16. kwyo and pdgibson, 17. delicious, 18. ..., 19. and above all else, don't drop your camera, 20. She left pieces of her life behind her everywhere she went. It's easier to feel the sunlight without them, she said., 21. Untitled, 22. Untitled, 23. More Colors: ready for final blocking (C365:295), 24. standing s t i l l, 25. I miss these !!!!

Zebre

I finished up Tyler's sweater this weekend by adding the cutest patch right over where I joined two skeins of yarn. I think it adds a cute little feature to an otherwise plain sweater.



I got a sweet little patch for his sister's sweater but I need to finish that one up first.

Beans, Beans, The Magical Food!

A few weeks ago, I read about a couple who decided to try to eat all their meals on $1 a day each and blog about it. I was enthralled by their blog and quickly began thinking about how much we spend on food.



I am pretty thrifty with the grocery bill and we often eat at home BUT I know that I could do better. They included a recipe for refried beans made in the crock pot. This intrigued me and I decided to give their recipe a try but with a few adjustments. This couple is vegan and I'm a carnivore. I knew the beans would need some animal fat and meat to make me happy.



Refried Beans (ala ReeBeckiSupergirl)
makes 8 servings

1 cup dry pinto beans (.54 cents)
1 cup black beans (.86 cents)
3 cloves garlic (.12 cents)
1 tsp. chili flakes (.08 cents)
salt to taste (.04 cents)
2 oz salted pork ($.49)
3 cups water (free!)
3 cups chicken broth ($1.20)

1. Rinse the pinto beans and soak them overnight. Rinse well.
2. In a crock pot, add pinto beans, 3 cups water, 3 cups chicken broth, garlic, chili, salt and salted pork.
3. Cook on high heat for approximately 8 hours.
4. When beans are very soft, pour off water as necessary to drain beans.
5. Use a potato masher to mash beans to desired consistency.

Cost:
Whole batch: $3.33
Serving: $0.42

While my recipe is a bit more costly than the original one, it is quite tasty and still really cheap!



I'm also pretty psyched that I found a great use for these jars! Bean storage!

Christmas Knitting

I started my Christmas knitting back in June and quickly finished socks for my Dad, Brother and Sister-in-Law. However I decided that it would be nice to learn how to make 2-Socks-on-2-Circs. Since this is a new technique for me, it's really slowed me down. That and I had some problems with sizing and started the socks more than once.

However I believe that I'll be able to get these socks knitted in time and I'll get that sweater down as another present. I just need to keep myself away from the Endpaper Mitts!

The Obsession Continues

I really like how the colors are working together.

Due to a fit of startistis last night, I cast on for the Endpaper Mitts. I had a bit of a situation with the tubular cast-on (yea that Italian one was a bit too much for me) but once I got that sorted out, I was on my way to a new obsession! Now I must go, I need to knit on those mitts a bit more.

Tuesday Favorites

1. I miss these !!!!, 2. untitled, 3. 291/365, 4. macaroons, 5. Selbu Modern, 6. it's the goggles, 7. Illo pretend, 8. {suspended}, 9. um, 10. 365.316 Bad-Ass Jinx!!, 11. Untitled, 12. I Am Bear, 13. Untitled, 14. big boy still loves his otter, 15. HBW EVERYONE <3, 16. Danboard Bokeh HBW!!, 17. selbu modern - done! now to block it, 18. First Self Developed Film, 19. meet the mini, 20. smug dance, 21. Odie and his cute little hat., 22. t h r e e, 23. Untitled, 24. inlet

One Down, One to Go!

Over the weekend, I finally finished the Child's Placket Sweater. All in all, it took me about 7 hours to complete this sweater and since I'm a fairy quick knitter, I have to say that I was disappointed. The book says that this sweater will take 4-6 hours to complete. I don't know if they only timed the project with the smallest size or how they gauged it but I made a sweater size right smack in the middle of the sizes and it took me more than 6 hours to complete it. That is disappointing! I wonder how long the second size will take?



I still need to add a small applique or something to the sweater for a finished touch.

Now I need to make one more Child's Placket Sweater from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. I started that one last night.

On Alki Beach

My running group meet up on Alki Beach today for a 13 mile run. It was a crisp, foggy Fall morning and I selected to only do 10 miles (which is still frickin' far) which was a great choice since my foot did not hurt much at all!

Then my friends and I headed out for breakfast the Alki Cafe for some re-fueling.




On the way home, I saw the most beautiful sight, Seattle floating in the foggy mist.

I had to pull over right away and snap a few shots.

Calla Lilly

We are having dinner with some friends tonight and while out and about today, I picked up a little thank you for them, these Calla Lilly flowers.

Calla Lilly flowers just happen to also be my favorite flower so I might be a little biased in how beautiful these are but seriously, look at them! They are gorgeous!

Placket Progress

The Child's Placket Sweater is coming along nicely. I've put in about 4 hours on knitting the moss sweater and am about half way through the second sleeve which means that I am still within the 4-6 hour time line in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.

Such a sweet little sweater! I'm enjoying making this pattern again which is good since I still have one more to make.

Living the Manifesto

I admit it, I'm obsessed with Lululemon. OBSESSED!

Their corporate culture and practices are so deeply aligned with my feelings on Yoga and life. They fully embrace what they preach and hey the free yoga classes I sometimes attend, don't hurt! Well they hurt my wallet when I walk out with more Lululemon goodness but hey, I love that stuff too.

They have this manifesto and I think it is just wonderful, so wonderful that I work hard to apply it to my life.

One of my favorite lines is, "Life is full of setbacks. Success is determined by how you handle setbacks."

And yet another is, "Practice yoga so you can remain active in physical sports as you age."

So get out there, practice and embrace life!

Blog Re-Design

The ole blog has always been a bit of a mish-mash since I honestly can barely do some html coding and that can be messy.

After some prodding (A LOT of prodding), Scott was kind enough to collaborate with me on a new blog design.

Scott did the artwork a few weeks ago and tonight we hunkered down to implement the new code. I did the typing while Scott did the teaching so I can do the coding on my own next time. EEK!

We moved the column from the left to right-side of the page. Scott gave me a daily updating widget for my 365 project which I guess means that I'm supposed to continue it to next year. We added some vector icons and a "magic robot" along with some fancy new colors.

All in all, I'm quite happy with this!

And oh yea, Thank you Scott!

Christmas Knitting for Children

I'm busy making sweaters for Scott's Niece and Nephew right now. I'm so excited about them that I could just squeal.

I'm making the Child's Placket Sweater for both of them; one in burgandy and one is moss. I'm going to then add cute little appliques to them to dress up the sweaters and make them more appealing to the children.

I'm so taking time to check the timing on these sweaters. These are under the 4-6 hour gift section of Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and I want to see if they really take 4-6 hours to complete. I'm currently at 3.5 hours for the body of the sweater and part of one sleeve.

Monday Favorites

1. There's nothing like a good soaking rain to help you appreciate the people you love, the roof over your head, and cable television., 2. first camera, 3. Fiddleheads #2, 4. The Boys, 5. Japanese Autumn, 6. Untitled, 7. beacon, 8. Carnival squash, 9. Carrots 2, 10. : hypnotically yours, 11. lace, 12. my new favorite square. (C365:282) [Nov 2, 08], 13. the swimmer, 14. on the line, 15. get down tonight now, 16. 1/30 days of gratitude: kindred spirits, 17. Gerbera, 18. Pris


I love finding great photos on Flickr and I love that I now have Lurvely to help me find them faster!