Flowers in Their Hair

The last weekend of September, as I mentioned in my September recap, was a great, fun (and eating) filled weekend with a few of my blogger friends (turned real life friends). They have been all meeting up together for a running weekend each year for about the last 3 or 4 years. This year, I was lucky enough that they chose my city to have their adventure in. I have met up with a couple of them before in various places around the world (Minneapolis, San Francisco, Charlotte and Squamish) but it was especially fun to host them and to show them some of my favorite places. In addition, they all rented a house in my old neighborhood, and it was so nostalgic being back there again, especially since their house was laid out just like the place I had when I lived there!

It started on Thursday, when Lauren and Lisa arrived. I met them in the city and they came over to Oakland with me on the bus. They were really troopers, hauling their suitcases on the public transportation during rush hour. We all went to one of my favorite Korean restaurants, Jong Ga House, which was really fun, as both Lisa and Lauren had never had Korean food. If you have ever had it, you will know that you get several "side dishes" called banchan, which vary in number. In this place, we got about 20 different ones! Of course we also had the traditional spicy tofu soup as well as a variety of barbequed meats.

Old photo, same restaurant

On Friday, I had to work all day and then I had a work event afterward, so the girls were on their own. However, on Saturday, I met up with all four of them (Leigh and Amber had arrived the night before) and we all ran the Berkeley Trail Adventure in Tilden park. Afterward, we went to Sam's Log Cabin in Albany for some delicious pancakes, eggs and fried chicken. I dropped the ladies back off in the city, went and dropped off the car and then rode my bike back to meet up with them again.

Of course, the next part was my favorite, because it was in my old neighborhood! We wandered around the Mission, stopping for a burrito at El Farolito and then HAD TO end the night with some ice cream from my favorite place in the city, Mitchells. The only problem is deciding which flavor to get (I got a double scoop of pumpkin and macapuno)! 

The next day we did something I have never done, although I have lived in the area for years. We biked across the bridge to Sausalito and took the ferry back. It is such a touristy thing to do that I have to admit, I have poo-pooed it, but I am so glad that we did it, as it was a ton of fun. We started nice and early, so that there were not too many looky loos on the bridge, so I think that made it even better. Once in Sausalito, we wandered to a breakfast place, Freds, which was pretty darn good! We headed back on the ferry and then rode over to the Ferry Building before all going our own ways. 

It is so fun to see my home through different eyes, as it reminds me of how much I love it here. The girls were taking photos of the fun houses and the interesting food, and it made me remember how lucky I am to live in such a gorgeous place, with good weather, and multiple food choices.

Another plus was the ease of spending time with these ladies. They are like old friends, even the ones I have not officially met before, and it was so easy to hang out with them. There was no drama, no worries about impressing people or worry about what to do. I made them all ride crammed in a mini for an hour in traffic and they were such good sports about it! I dragged them around the city and made them eat weird food and they did not complain once. All in all, I could not have asked for a better group of girls or a more fun weekend. They are welcome back any time (plus there are still so many things I want to show them)!

What is your "tried and true" routine when you have visitors to your home town? What is your favorite type of food? What type of food have you never tried that you would like to try?

Monday Misc

- The other day I met up with Jill and B for a couple of drinks and some chatter. We had a bunch of great conversations, one of which was the fact that Jill did not put on pants and I was wearing a sports bra. B was of the mind that we should have both tried harder to look presentable, but I was happy that Jill and I were of the same mind set. I guess what I am trying to say is that most bloggers I have met have been exactly how they seemed like they would be from their blogs. Thank goodness. I hope that I am the same!

- Speaking of other bloggers, I don't think I mentioned S & R. I have probably talked about them before, since they were the ones who gave us the tent. We met this couple while traveling in Malawi a couple of years ago. They were nice and fun and we ended up hanging out together for a few days before parting ways. We have kept in touch and VOILA, last week they had a wedding to go to in Santa Cruz and they came and stayed with us and we had a great time! This is why I love travel. You meet people that are kindred spirits. You invite them to come and stay with you and you MEAN IT! It's great.

- I don't have TV at home. No TV. No cable. No satellite. I like it this way. This is not strange to me. I grew up without TV and never really got into the habit of watching TV as a way to wind down. Don't talk to me about Gilligan's Island. I know there is a hot girl and a sailor, but I am not sure about the rest of the show. A lot of people find this weird. I find it weird that we have gotten so used to having TV that it seems strange NOT to have one. I am not saying that if you do have one and/or watch it that there is anything wrong with that. I am not saying that I don't watch Top Chef from time to time. I am just saying that there is a lot of crap on TV these days and I don't want to get sucked into it. And I would, because I DO have an addictive personality. So I just avoid it all together.

- I have not felt like running lately. I still want to run, but I don't really want to do the work. I want the effect I get from running, because afterward I always feel great, but I am feeling super, SUPER lazy and unmotivated these days. I think I hit a tiny training wall. Luckily last week was a step back week, so hopefully I will start this week off on the right foot!

- Right now for book club, we are reading Cutting for Stone. I am about half way through. So far, so good! Have you read it? What do you think? No spoilers!

How was your weekend? Do you ever meet up again with people from  your travels? What about blog friends? Do they seem the way they portray on their blogs?

What Adults Do

I had a good week mostly filled with running and recovering from running. Last week, I had a great time in Sacramento. I ran a Marathon and met up with Kim, who is the inspiration of the Grab a Beer meme. Unfortunately, we are bad people and we didn't take any photos. I was running around, trying to find the coffee shop, get ready to run and make cake pops (this seems to be a theme every time I visit my friend's house). So here are a few random photos of last week and this week.

Last week, I stayed with my friend, who is an adult. Do you know how I can tell? She has a coffee station. In her house. I mean, is this not the coolest thing you have ever seen? She also has so many fun gadgets that I don't even know what they are! What'll it be? Espresso? Latte? Half caf with a shot of vanilla?

I went out for margaritas, which culminated in my getting my fingernails painted black. By a boy. With a not so steady hand. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate having my fingernails painted? 

I finally got around to reading this book. 

A day of this = a Good Day indeed. 

I sent out my last straggler Christmas cards. 

I spent a lot of time with this girl. Is she not the cutest thing ever. She loves Craisins! 

And there was this. You probably already heard enough about that here. 

The good thing about running a lot = Carb loading! Lunch at Ernestos. 

Occupy San Francisco. What a mess. 

Running at Lake Merritt. Can it get any better? It's 60 degrees here. I HEART winter in the Bay Area!

How was your week? Have you seen the "Occupy" in your city? Have you finished (pr started) your Christmas cards?

Women Run The Cities: Part II

As I mentioned in this post, I had a wonderful time last weekend with Lisa in the beautiful city of Minneapolis. But we didn't just eat and see the sights. One of the things that I went to visit for was the Women Run the Cities 10 Mile Race, located in Minnehaha Park.

The night before I set out all my gear. Those striped things are either leg warmers or arm warmers, and were one of the free things we got when we signed up. The race was (shoe) chip timed. The race I had the weekend before was chip timed, but the chip was on my bib, which was super convenient.

This time there was no funnel cake carb loading, just a nice dinner of chicken and pasta, cooked by Lisa and served with a beautiful salad and lots and lots of water. Before the race, as always, I had to pee and not-surprisingly, I also had to go again around mile one. I have a pea sized bladder. It's ridiculous.

Aside from Lisa and I, we also met up with Raquelita, who lives a couple of hours away. She and her husband were really nice! And then we were off! This race was great, it went along the sides of the Mississippi river and was along a tree lined road. There were a few hills, one really big one around mile 4 and one around mile 7. The weather was about 44 degrees when we started but warmed up into the 50s during the race.

I finished first and then ran to the car to get the camera so I could take photos of the girls coming in.

Here is Lisa.

Here we are afterwards. 

Here is Raquelita. 

Afterwards, we went to Victors 1959 Cafe for brunch and some great Cuban food! We also bored Raquelits's husband to death had some great conversations about running, traveling, books and life! These girls were great and it was nice to finally meet up with them! I felt like we had known each other for years.

For those non-runners, you can look away now. Runners, here are my stats:

Total Miles: 10
Total time: 1:23:36 (according to Garmin)
Average of: 8:22/mile
Place overall: 140/1050
I was 14 minutes behind the 1st place girl in my age group and 20 minutes behind the first place overall. That means I need to run at least a 6:22 mile to win next time. YEAH RIGHT!

I felt good the entire time. I always try to keep up with someone who is a little faster than I want to really go. In this case, I was trying to keep it under an 8:30 pace. The first mile was packed with people and so most of it was spent dodging and weaving. Finally around mile 2, the course freed up and I was able to get into a steady pace. It went well until I was running mile 7 and I thought that I only had one mile left and when I got to the 8 mile marker, I was a little disappointed. My right hip and butt cheek were really starting to seize up by then. However, I just pretended I was doing a Yasso and my last mile was actually my fastest (7:55).

All in all, this was a good race. I would recommend it to anyone. OH, I almost forgot to tell you guys. I have never run a 10 mile race before, so this was also my 10 Miler PR! It sure is nice when it's your first time; you ALWAYS PR on your first time!

You may also want to read:
Raquelita's Race Report
Lisa's Race Report 
My Races and Places Page: Other runs I have done. 

One other thing. I JUST signed up for THIS Marathon. It's 10 weeks away. Do you guys think I can be ready by then? I can already run 13 miles. I figured I may as well just keep adding on, rather than trying to start from the beginning next year. However, it is going to be dark a lot (and cold) during my training times. What do you think? Is it do-able? 

What races did you run this weekend? How did you do? Have you ever run a marathon? Was the training intense?

Don't forget to go over to Jills and check out the other Fitness Friday posts!

Women Run The Cities: Part I

Last weekend I went to visit a fellow blogger, Lisa, who lives in Minneapolis. We had a great time walking around the city, over the bridges, back over the bridges, under the bridges, over the river and through the woods.

I knew I would like Lisa (as if I had had any doubts) when she asked if I wanted an apple. When I said yes, she said, "let me grab the apple slicer". I was thinking, "Apple slicer? Isn't that called a KNIFE?" (this girl is batty, people) And then.... VOILA!

Awesome. The girl has gadgets. Everyone needs one of these! 

P.S. This is a Honeycrisp apple, which is native to MN. 

 Lisa, who had a bit of a cold, was still an awesome host. She took me all over the city. First we went to the Guthrie for a view of the Stone Arch Bridge. Good name, huh? I guess somebody just called it like they saw it!

Here we are. Yes we color coordinated on purpose! If you ever need someone who knows how to put the self timer on the camera and get a photo of practically nothing, I am your man. The stone arch bridge is somewhere behind that bannister.

We went to the farmers market, where they had lots of fun veggies. We also got to see a cooking demonstration while sitting in the sun (it was a chilly 44ish when we were outside) drinking coffee. Now THAT is my kind of day.

I had to get a scone from the best place in MN to buy pastries. This was what Lisa said many people had told her, but she didn't know firsthand, since she can't have gluten. Yum! I could have had one of each of these pastries!

And then we went and bought some bratwurst for lunch from Kramarczuk's.  We picked a jalapeno and cheese brat and a wild rice (MN specialty) brat. We cooked those up and served them with a salad and rosemary potatoes. Lisa made sure I didn't go hungry while staying with her.

I wanted to do this, which is to ride around the city drinking and pedaling. But we had other things to do. 

Like...take a walk next to the river. 

And eat Gelato.

We also spent time walking over the Stone Arch Bridge, taking photos, walking around downtown, drinking coffee, eating guacamole and browsing the bookstore. 

So yes, as you can see, we did the things I love most: walking, taking in the sights and, most importantly... EATING. Lisa must have named another half dozen restaurants that I will need to go to next time I come to visit. But there is always too little time and too much to do!

Lisa was a great host and we had a great time. Now I'm trying to convince her (and anyone else who wants) to come to San Francisco so I can return the favor. It sure is fun going to visit people and it's nice to have a local to show you around! 

I wasn't just there to stuff my face though. Tune in on Friday when I talk about the 10 mile race that we ran on Sunday!

What did you do this weekend? Have you been to Minneapolis? Have you ever crossed the Mississippi on foot?