Fearful Run

Unwisely, I waited until 4:30 to go on my 8 mile run today. Naturally the sun set after a few miles and before I knew it, I was running in darkness looking around madly for crazy serial killers and glaring suspiciously at passing cars. There were so few street lights that I could barely see the floor in front of me - it was a miracle I didn't trip on a pine cone and eat it. On the plus side, it seems that fearing for my life made me run faster than originally planned. I finished 8.08 miles at a 10:01 min/mile pace which I'm pretty happy with considering I almost didn't go running at all. Now to find some grub.

Happy Tofurkey

Ah finally, a chance (and some energy) to blog! This weekend has passed by in a flurry of activity. I'll do my best to recap:

On Wed, my mom drove down from LA, bringing with her a VitaMix blender and a variety of fruits to liquefy. We puttered around that afternoon before heading out to Henry's to gather some missing ingredients for our Thanksgiving potluck. That night, Kristen brought baby Sophie over to visit and my mom lulled her to sleep in what Ryan called a "Taiwanese sleeper hold".


On Thursday, Ryan and I woke up at the crack of dawn to run in the PureFitness 10K Run for the Hungry. The race was held downtown by Petco park so we parked at Kevin's and the three of us jogged over to the start of the race. While waiting for Kevin to register, we found Sophie and Bryan and the kids, but got separated again when they went in search of restrooms. This was Ryan's first race (and actually the first time he's ever run 10K distance) so he was surprised to see so many people. We started out pretty fast but slowly scaled backed to a comfortable pace. The course was relatively flat with a gradual uphill at parts, but nothing too painful. At mile 3 it started to drizzle which was nice since it kept us cool but as we approached the last mile, it really started to rain. At that point we saw Sophie in the distance and caught up to her and the three of us sprinted for the finish, soaked but happy to have ran the entire race. My Garmin reported that we ran 6.27 miles at an average pace of 9:37 min/mile. Whoo hoo!

After the race, we met up with Kevin who had finished already and was waiting for our victorious return. As the three of us walked back to the car, we were caught in a torrential downpour so we decided to take a quick dip in the jacuzzi before heading back home. Once I was showered and clean, I began to frantically cook the four dishes I had planned for the potluck: mac n cheese, stuffing, sauteed chards with cranberries, and tofu bites (a recipe Kristen got from her friend). Luckily my mom was quick to pick up the messy pots and clean them so the kitchen wasn't a disaster when I was done. Kim brought salad and wine, Kristen brought two pumpkin pies and champagne, and Ron and Laura brought a tofurkey, roasted potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin cheesecake. Everything was delicious and I was completely stuffed at the end of the meal.






In addition to the pumpkin desserts, Laura surprised everyone with a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake in celebration of the November birthdays (mine and baby Sophie's). I love ice cream cakes!! Sadly, there was about half a cake left after the meal and today there's only about a sliver left. I swear wedding diet will be on lock down once we pass the two week mark...which is tomorrow eep!



Friday was spent recouping, hanging out with the ma, and making wedding programs. On Saturday, my mom drove back to LA and I went to my yoga class at 11:30. After the race and no stretching (other than my stomach), yoga kicked my butt. I was so tired afterwards but in a good way. That afternoon, Ryan and I headed over to Sophie and Bryan's for a jam session. Ryan set up his drums in their garage while Bryan played the guitar. Sophie and I wandered aimlessly around, sometimes listening to the boys, sometimes knitting (her) and putting together programs (me), and sometimes playing flute (her) and playing piano (me). It was lots of fun and is totally motivating me to practice piano and guitar again. Afterwards, we met up with Kevin, Leslie, Kim, and Kim's friends downtown for thai food at Rama. The service was slow but the food was as tasty as ever.

Now it's Sunday and I'm about to start cleaning and preparing for the week. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to practice some guitar later and of course work on the programs. When the sun goes down a bit, I'll head out for my dreaded 8 mile run. I definitely need it after this weekend!

Two Seven

It's my BIRTHDAAAAAAAY! Today officially marks the 27th year of my humble existence. Not too exciting of a birthday year but I still managed to squeeze in plenty of celebration.

Birthday meal #1: Ryan and I met up with Laura and Ron on Friday at Buon Appetito for one of my favorite meals - Cappellini alla Checca. The meal was preceding by the usual table bread with tomato dipping sauce (so addicting) and concluded with a decadent block of tiramisu accompanied by the loud baritone singing of the entire Italian male wait staff. Nice. To top it off, Laura and Ron generously got me a gift certificate to Whole Foods and to Shopbop. Food and clothes? They know me so well...

Birthday meal #2: On Saturday night, Sophie and Bryan picked us up and we went out to Sushi Ota for a delicious sushi dinner. We easily packed away double spicy tuna roll, shrimp tempura roll, yellow tail sushi, salmon belly sushi, seared tuna sushi, scallop sushi and roll, a phidelphia roll baked with cream cheese on top, and a fried salmon roll...not to mention plenty of sake (Ryan was nursing several Sochus). We had plenty of laughs and it was great time all around.

Birthday meal #3: On Sunday night, Ryan and I went to Whole Foods to pick up some groceries for an at-home romantic dinner. Since I've apparantly lacking iron, we decided on filet mignon steaks mmmm. Unfortunately, they didn't sell A1 sauce (blasphemy) so we had to settle for a different steak sauce but it was still very tasty. To accompany the main meal, I made creamed spinach and we had plenty of red wine.

Birthday meal #4: Today I got to work and discovered a plate of Kim G. cookies on my desk. She had made chocolate chip and my absolute fav, double chocolate cookies for my birthday. That certainly started the day well. At lunch, I went out with the ladies for dim sum at Jasmine. It's been so long since I had dim sum and it certainly did not disappoint. Just as oily, salty and delicious as I remember. My favorite is the fried mochi like balls with pork inside. Best combo of sweet and salty.

Tonight, we kept it simple and I made rice with broccoli and stir fried chicken. I was suppose to go to yoga but what the heck, it's my birthday! I might as well sit at home and catch up on some posts :). So on Sunday, I accompanied Ryan to his soccer game in OB and ran 6 miles with my trusty Garmin. Feeling pretty sluggish after all that sake on Sat, I took it at an easy 10:30 min/mile pace and then watched the rest of the soccer game while I stretched. I'm not sure what time I will shoot for (if any) at the 10k race this Thurs but I certainly hope I feel more peppy then I did on Sunday. Otherwise, it'll be a loooong race. Luckily Ryan will be there to push me along.

In wedding news, I've finished 64 menus and have started in on the ceremony programs. Yes they're not as perfectly aligned or cut as they might have been if I ordered it but I doubt anyone will notice. I've also stolen a cute grass motif that I've added to my menu and program design. Should go nicely with the wheatgrass decor.


And lastly, I leave you with the usual Where's Fred puzzle. Not much of a puzzle since I circle her in bright green but you get the gist...

Big Brother Is Watching

Yesterday Ryan and I went to the Toyota dealer and sold my Camry. While we didn't get as much as we hoped for, it was still a good chunk of change and will definitely help us buy a house next year. I thought it'd be a little sad to give up my car, but honestly my bike is awesome. It's really quite fun and exhilirating to ride around. No complaints so far. I just need to get a headlight so I don't get hit by a car at night. Just ordered on Amazon and should get it early next week.


Amongst my latest gadgets, I finally sucked it up and got a Garmin Forerunner 305 watch. It's an embedded GPS device that tracks the distance, pace, map of your run. You just upload it to your computer and voila, all the stats you could ever want to know. It's especially helpful that it calculates your moving pace by filtering out time where you're spent waiting at a light. Eager to try it out, Sophie and I went on a 3-mile tempo run today with our Garmins and while we were suppose to go at 9:30 pace, we started out much faster. I knew I couldn't sustain that pace but somehow I lasted till around mile 2.5 when I got a horrible side ache and had to walk a bit. Even with that, our overall moving pace was 9:34 so I'm sure if we hadn't walked, it would have been closer to 9:00. Sorry Sophie, I promise I'll run more outside so I can get used to the jostling :). Next time, 9:00 tempo! In other racing news, I managed to convince Ryan to run the Thanksgiving 10K race downtown with me. Should be fun - I just hope it's not too hilly.

Yesterday, I finally received the paper I ordered to make wedding menus and programs. Sweatshop Jess is OPEN!! I printed and cut 60 menus last night and need to just assembly the components together. I was so intent on the task at hand that I didn't get to bed till 1am last night. So pathetic.

Watch Out Streets

Last Friday, Ryan and I went to a bike store and invested in an electric bicycle. After much debate, we've decided to sell my car and replace my mode of transporation with a more eco-friendly solution. Given that I only drive my car to work and to yoga, both of which are in the neighborhood, this made the most sense. The bike is pretty cool - there's a rechargeable battery and an electric motor that gives you a nice push each time you pedal. Additionally, there's a throttle that you can use to get some juice without pedaling. So far, I've ridden it to and from work and yoga, and I must say it's been quite enjoyable. I definitely still need to pedal to move at a decent pace but I barely break a sweat, even on big hills. Awesome.

Today, I went to the gym and ran my intervals. It's the first official week of training so no more slacking from here. I did 4 quarter mile intervals at 6.9 and was feeling pretty good until the last one when the obnoxiously dry heat started to wear on me. But at least I got through them. I can't wait until this weather cools down. Afterward, I tried to give blood but was initially denied because my iron level was too low. I requested they try again and the second test yielded an iron level that just passed. What's going on? Must be the combination of eating less meat and working out so much. Good thing the wheatgrass is ready to harvest soon (lots of iron). After giving blood (apparently they take a whole pound!), I noticed my left arm was quite sore. The nurse had to poke around a bit with the needle so I expected as much. However, after 6 hours, my arm is still ridiculously sore. I can barely lift it! I even had to get Ryan to pick me up so I could drive home one handedly while he took the bike home. Ugh I hope it gets better after some sleep. Sadly there was no way I could do yoga so I didn't go tonight. Luckily tomorrow is my day off so I can rest up.

Baby Sophie

Baby Sophie has arrived!! She was born last night at the Scripps Memorial hospital, weighing a healthy 6 lbs and sporting a shockingly dark and stylish head of hair. Unfortunately, Ryan and I were in LA at the time but we drove back this morning and went straight to see the newest addition to the family. She is so cute and tiny and sleepy. We all got to hold her for a bit and after some initial nervousness, I grew quite comfortable having the small bundle in my lap. Amazingly, Kristin seems completely recovered and is walking around like she hadn't just gone through labor (I'd probably be passed out). We're all just so excited. She's such a little miracle!



When we got home, the house was a disaster so I set about cleaning and putting (my) mess away. To our surprise, the wheatgrass is almost the height we need for the wedding. We'll need to harvest it soon lest it overtake our home.


Around 4:30, I went on my scheduled 6 mile run even though I was really not feeling it. Luckily, Sophie (the adult) guilted me into going. I actually felt pretty good except it was so horribly dry and I kept coughing towards the end. My sinuses were going nuts and it became really painful to breathe. Not pleasant. But I finished my run and rested while I waited for Ryan to return from soccer. Now that he's home, we've ordered Papa John's pizza (out of sheer laziness to cook) and I'm chowing down on some cheesy goodness.

On a final note, here's the traditional Chinese invitation that my mom printed for the LA reception on Dec 28th. I think we'll try to stick with red and gold colors for the decor but keep it simple and easy. We're planning to buy a bunch of red roses from a wholesale flower shop downtown and I'm thinking of dying the tissue paper I bought and making small napkin poms. Luckily we'll be able to reuse the candle holders and vases.

So Much Grass

Goodness, our wheatgrass is running amok. It's grown a couple inches in the last two days and is continuing strong. I think in another week it'll be the perfect length for harvesting, which means we should start growing the other four trays during the last week of November to get them ready for the wedding. Yay, looks great! To prove how crazy I've become with wedding decor, I mocked up a place setting with the menu I designed and the favor box. I was tempted to lay out several more settings and to light some candles but Ryan came home in time to snap me out of it.



This morning we drove to Rancho Santa Fe to meet my hair/makeup lady for a trial session. I had to reel her in a bit on the eye makeup. She started doing some strange contouring that made me look like a psycho china doll. After I politely complained, she scaled back and I was much happier with the result...until she tried on the false lashes. Totally not for me. I looked like a cross dressing stripper. The hair came out great though. She curled it in loose waves and made a messy bun. Exactly what I imagined. I took some pictures but won't post them because where's the surprise in that??

After that we drove to LA to visit my mom (stopping at South Coast Plaza to get a necktie for the wedding). Unfortunately, orange county is currently being hit with some massive forest fires so the sky was complete ash. Very sad to imagine all those people losing their homes. Because of the air quality I've decided to postpone my six mile run until tomorrow when we get back to SD. Tonight, I plan to relax with my mom and show her all the fun projects I've been working on. We're having a separate Chinese reception in LA after Christmas so we'll have to plan some simple decor for that too. MORE PROJECTS!! Sometimes I fear my brain will explode. Let's hope not until after the wedding.

Sprouts!

After four days, we finally have some sprouts! Sure enough, our little seedlings are spreading their wings and leaving the nest. We've brought them inside where it's warmer so hopefully they'll start growing faster.


Here's a look at the tissue pom I made with tissue paper I already had on hand. It wasn't too difficult to assemble but the size is enormous. I think it might look strange to have such a bulbous ornament hanging from the tree but I dunno. I think once the ivory paper comes in, I'll experiment with smaller sizes. I like mini things so maybe I'll make lots of small ones and dangle more. Must consult with Sophie, my design advisor...



Tomorrow Ryan and I plan to go shopping for an electric bicycle at lunchtime. We've decided to sell my car since I never drive it much and put the proceeds to good use, i.e. house. We live close enough to my company that I could easily ride a normal bike but there's a hill and lord knows I need to get off and walk my bike at the first sign of an incline. So pathetic.

Fall Meals

In the spirit of fall, Ryan requested I make a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top, a dish that made him nostalgic for his days in the South. Even though I thought it sounded kinda gross, I obliged. Here's the recipe I found (too lazy to copy it over). Surprisingly, it was much tastier than expected. It's not a dish you'd eat often since the marshmallows make it so rich but it was definitely festive.

On Tues, I made a vegetarian chili and some buttermilk cornbread. I think the cold weather is making me crave hot soups and filling foods. Sadly, it's also making less enthusiastic about working out since all I want to do at night is go home and curl up on the couch. I did make it to yoga on Monday but played hooky both Tues and Wed. I've got a short 3 mile tempo run tomorrow so maybe I'll try to do some yoga afterwards. Gotta keep the arms toned for the wedding!

DIY Mania

I've been a slacker about posting, primarily because I've been too busy meticulously glueing layers of ribbon on favor boxes. At long last, I have finished all 59 boxes; there's suppose to be 60 but one of the tops is missing and I suspect a cat has swatted somewhere where it won't be discovered for another year. Here is the fruit of my labor. Inside, I plan to wrap two pieces of fudge in tissue paper and topping it with a little sticker that says "Thank You".


Ryan has undertaken the task of growing the wheatgrass. He's going to experiment with one out of the five boxes that came with the kit and if all goes well in the first week, we'll try growing them all. The first step is to soak the seeds for 8 hours and then spread them out on the soil. Now we're suppose to wait for them to sprout (under a layer of wet newspaper to keep them moist). Hopefully, the temperature out on the patio is ok. It's been rather cold out at night and strangely warm during the day. Cross your fingers!



As for my other projects, I've ordered the papers I need to print and assemble the ceremony programs and dinner menus. They should be delivered next week. In the meantime, I've also ordered a bunch of recycled tissue paper in hopes that I'll be able to create my own tissue poms to decorate the olive trees where the ceremony will be. That should be delivered tomorrow so I can start experimenting. I also had to order a bunch of ivory tulle (there was a minimum order requirement) so now I have to figure out what to use it for. So many ideas...can't focus...brain exploding...

Sweatshop

On the wedding front, I picked up my dress and veil from Neiman after my departmental event on Thurs. As soon as Ryan left that night for his soccer game, I obsessively tried on the dress, the veil, my earrings, and shoes. I'm sure if anyone saw me from the window, they'd think I was some psycho. Everything was perfect and I'm so excited to wear it on my wedding day.

As for the decorations, I've been glueing ribbons on the favor boxes and have finished almost 20. Ryan thinks I'm crazy to be doing so much work but I love the look and think it will add a nice personalized touch. I did change the ribbon to a cheaper one but the colors are more or less the same as my original design. Also, I ordered the paper I need for making ceremony programs and menus and should begin that next week. We ordered a wheatgrass kit and will start growing a test batch tomorrow - I just love the look of using wheatgrass to display place cards. Lastly, I've given Sophie the floral supplies for her to go wild with. Hopefully we'll be able to order flowers next week and then I think we'll be all set for decor!

Windy Runs Are The Worst

This week was a wash in terms of running. I couldn't run on Tues since we had a birthday lunch for my coworker Juliette. Then I couldn't run on Thurs since we had our departmental team building event at Dave & Busters - where I drank lots of beer and played an insane amount of video games, subsequently giving myself a blister on my thumb (so pathetic). I meant to run on Wed but frankly I was too lazy and strangely sore from yoga on Mon and Tues. Finally on Fri, I hit the gym, meaning to run 6 miles to make up some mileage. Unfortunately, the treadmills were taken when I got there and by the time one freed up, my 6 mile goal was leaving a bad taste in my mouth. At mile 3, I saw our CEO walked in, giving me the perfect excuse to stop and give up the treadmill. After my run, I sadly added my meager 3 miles to the running log.

Yesterday, I had an intense yoga class but today was the day I was hoping to make up some miles. We woke up at 7:20 and headed out to Ocean Beach where Ryan had a soccer game at 8:30. I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast but figured I'd just try to suffer through 6 miles on an empty stomach. As soon as we stepped out on the field, I knew it'd be a terrible run. It was ridiculously windy out by the water, making my nose incredibly dry and my nasal glands kick into high gear. I wish I could master the "snot rocket" but I am terrible at it so it is never an option. Sniffing along, I pushed against the wind which turned my leisurely pace into a crippled pace. Nonetheless, I ran out along Mission Bay until I thought I'd hit the 4 mile mark (no idea really since I dont have a Garmin boo hoo) and then turned back. At mile 6 I had to walk for a bit but I made it back in once piece. When I got home, I mapped my run and it turns out I ran 7.5 miles. Whoo hoo at least I made it over 10 for the week.

I Like Lists

1) YES OBAMA WON!!! Amazingly moving speech. My faith in America has been renewed.

2) Fudge was so good. Creamy consistency, maybe could use a smidge less sugar. Will wait for final verdict from Ryan when he gets back from NYC tomorrow.

3) Cooking dash has been beaten. Slightly disappointed that there were only five restaurants and that it wasn't as hard as Diner Dash.

4) Unable to run today due to coworker's bday lunch. Will get back to it tomorrow.

Stupid Hills

On Sunday, I ran the Komen 5K Race for the Cure. As I mentioned in a previous post, I sprained a toe the day before and while it was quite painful pivoting on my foot, it was actually ok when moving forward in a straight line. Having been warned of a large hill at the end, I was none too excited to compete. However, once the gun went off and the adrenaline started pumping, I took off at a pretty good speed and managed to maintain it past mile 2. Then the hill came. Um, this was no gentle hill. This was a beast almost as steep as the torrey pines hill! Bleh. I ended up walking part of it but once it flattened out, I sprinted to the finish line. My overall pace turned out to be 9:34 min/mile which I'm pretty happy with. Now I'm considering running the 10K thanksgiving day race downtown with Sophie. It looked like a pretty flat course which would be a god send.

Afterwards we met up with Kevin (who won his age division) and the parents (who came to watch) and went downtown for bunch. But first, we had a show down between Ryan and his dad for who squeezed into the tighter parking spot. The first is Ron's parking spot. Very respectable. The second is Ryan's parking spot. WTF?? We were all dumbfounded. We're convinced he hired some circus strongmen to lift his car into that spot. Especially ridiculous considering he had to do a 10 point turn coming outta that.



Here's the latest status on the toe. It's a nice shade of purple with a bit of blue. I went to a yoga class earlier today and everything seemed ok so long as I tried to be gentle with it. Whew. Nothing would be worse than injuring myself beyond yoga or running.


On Sunday afternoon, I did some shopping for wedding decorations and then went to town designing a ceremony program and a dinner menu. Once I've finalized my designs, it'll be a sweatshop in my house as I crank out goods. Also, tonight I tried out a fudge recipe which was pretty easy to make and is currently setting up in the fridge. I can't wait to take a bite in the morning and see how it turned out. For presentation, I'm going to order some small favor boxes and decorate them with ribbon, similar to how I decorated the plain white box below.



Now onto cooking dash...

Sukiyaki Western Django

Rather than hiding at home from treat-o-trickers yesterday (we never have candy), Ryan and I decided to go on a dinner and movie date. We'd both heard of Sukiyaki Western Django, the latest movie from Takashi Miike, who's warped and bizarre mind brought us Ichi the Killer, so we decided to check it out. It was only playing at Ken Cinema in Kensington so we grabbed a deep dish pizza from Lefty's in North Park before hand. Strangely enough, during dinner we witnessed about 100 people on bicycles whiz by, many of them dressed for Halloween. Apparently they have a bike run every last Friday of the month in that neighborhood. Poor me, I wish I lived in such a fun area.

Once we got to the theater, we settled in with some Junior Mints, not knowing what to expect. What we'd read about the movie was that it was a Japanese spaghetti western, spoken in English. Since it was a Miike film, we knew there'd be a lot of violence and gratuitous blood baths, but other than that we didn't know what direction he'd take. The opening scene featured a cameo from Quentin Tarantino and was so bizarre that I gave Ryan a pensive look. What have we gotten ourselves into? Once it moved to the main story line, things got more interesting, especially when I saw the devilishly handsome leader of the white clan. The main gunman was handsome too but not so much my taste. Plus I suspected he was less handsome under his cowboy hat. Anyway, we'll just say that I don't usually find Asian men particularly attractive but when I do, I'm head over heels haha. Aside from perking up at the sight of hot men, I also grew accustomed to the thick Asian accents and was able to understand maybe 75% of what they were saying, versus the 40% in the opening scene.

The main story line revolves around a mining town that was invaded by two clans, the reds and the whites, both looking to strike it rich with gold. The reds were largely brutes while the white were vicious but proud, following what they thought was the samurai way. To keep it short, a stranger arrives and all hell breaks lose with almost everyone dying at the end - typical. The violence wasn't over the top, the way it was with Ichi, although there were some scenes that were tough to watch. There were also some plenty of funny tidbits involving the leader of the red clan and the sniveling schizophrenic ex-sheriff. All in all, I found this highly entertaining and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys slightly strange movies.

To end with, let's revisit my favorite hot Asian man, Takeshi Haneshiro. He's a half Japanese, half Taiwanese actor. You might remember him as the beautiful man in House of Flying Daggers.

Crap

I just got back from a yoga class where I think I sprained my toe (one of the little useless ones on my left foot). It was totally my own fault. I got to class feeling incredibly sore from doing yoga on my own yesterday and feeling very tired, having not eaten anything in the morning. I was completely conscious of the sloppiness with which I was executing my poses but just figured whatever, it's just the same old poses I always do, it'll be fine. Unfortunately, about halfway through the class, I was doing a half assed jump through and clipped my toe on the floor going forward. It hurt like hell. I gingerly muddled my way through the rest of class and now I'm icing the toe like crazy. It appears to be a little swollen and red/purple. Jogging lightly around the house is doable although it feels a little iffy. I'm hoping that after plenty of ice and rest, I won't have any problems running the race tomorrow. Here's a video of a yogi doing a jump back (I can only get my legs through, can't kick legs out yet) and a jump through (I can only straighten my legs at the end when I sit down). These videos make it look so effortless.



So as I mentioned, I practiced some yoga at the gym yesterday at lunchtime. On a whim, I decided to try scorpion against the wall. I was able to get into the pose with the feet almost touching my head but couldn't stay in it for long. I felt like my back was breaking. It was still pretty encouraging that I could get that far since it takes a lot of strength to do forearm stand in the first place. Whoo hoo! Here's a video of a girl doing scorpion against the wall. I think I got my feet a little closer to my head then this but without someone video taping me, I can't say for sure. Maybe I'll try it again tomorrow and have Ryan video tape me.