13.1- 4th of July

Hi Friends!

So two weeks ago I ran my first ever half-marathon! I ran the Seattle Rock and Roll half-marathon with my mom and a couple of thousand other people. It was a beautiful sunny June day in Seattle which was pretty lucky since June in Washington is also called Junuary- because it rains... a lot. I'm not going to lie and say the race was a cake walk since it was pretty long and a little hilly. The race went all around Seattle, we started out at the Seattle Center headed through downtown curved around south of the 90 bridge and then back up around. Some parts of the run were super beautiful, like Seward Park- that place is gorgeous. My mom and I stuck together till about the 10th mile and then parted, we both finished and enjoyed some tasty post-run comfort food.

Giant Brooks blow-up man rocking out during the race

Pre-race selfie:

Post-race selfie with our medals:

I liked running a half-marathon, I thought the distance was challenging and it felt really rewarding to finish, I will definitely be running another one in September (more details on that later)

This weekend was also the 4th of July! Since it fell on a Friday I decided to make a super long weekend out of it and take off Thursday and Monday, and head back out to the Midwest. Jake and I flew out to Chicago on Thursday to meet up with my friends from high school and drive up to my family's lake house in Michigan. The drive was cozy and long since everyone leaves the city to go to the beach during the weekend. But Michigan as always was beautiful, the weather was nice and the water was surprisingly not freezing. My friends and I had a wonderful time celebrating America's birthday on the beach with some daiquiris, good magazines and gossip! I even managed to get a little less white :)

After we left, Jake and I spent some quality time in Chicago and enjoyed the beautiful weather, architecture and deep dish pizza.

Le beach:

The whole gang enjoying some dinner:

 Celebrating America's birthday with daiquiris:

Millennium Park:

Goofin around:

On a slightly more serious note, there were 89 shootings in Chicago this past weekend. Chicago is where I grew up and where I'll always consider my home; it really hurts my heart to think that such violence occurs. My hope is that some actions are taken to make the city more peaceful and that this kind of violence ends.

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From Washington to Washington

Hola!

So starting a new job, is surprisingly really hectic. I make about an hour commute there and back every day and by the time I get home I usually just pass out. But so far I really love my job! My client team is pretty much all women (girl power!) its definitely a  first! People are also fairly friendly and I get invited to lunch/coffee occasionally, and tons of Loft9 events! We're a company that likes to always be involved with each other. But now that I've finally gotten a routine down I think I can get the ball rolling on other things.

I've been trying to do yoga at least twice a week, since I sit all day, I think its good to stretch it out after a long day. It also gets things flowing, if you get what I mean ;) My half-marathon is also quickly approaching, its May 11th (Happy Mother's Day). And I'm chugging along with my training, I'm running a 10k next weekend, along with acting as a running buddy for Girls on the Run which is a nonprofit that works with girls in 3rd-8th grade to get them out and exercising and promote empowerment through physical activity. On the philanthropy note, I also recently was accepted into the Seattle Junior League. I'm really excited to meet new people and get involved in all the leadership and philanthropic opportunities they have to offer.

This past weekend I went to the other Washington, I headed down to Washington DC to see my boyfriend and meet his family. It was a great trip! We went to dinner with my cousin who lives in DC, and we explored Georgetown. On Saturday we went around and saw all the monuments and caught a Nationals game with his parents. We had home plate seats and it was great! It was the perfect amount of baseball and being social! I loved being with my boyfriend and meeting his parents. He's back next week and I couldn't be more excited!

Here are some choice photos from this weekend:

 I'm looking forward to spring time and summer! And more fun trips!

Here's a funny video to cheer up your day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBkWhkAZ9ds

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A day of love

Valentine's day was this past weekend, the magical day of love. People get all worked up over who got who a present and how they're going to make the best of the "big" day. This year since my boyfriend is in a different country I celebrated Galentine's day instead of Valentine's day. Some gals and I got together for a fancy dinner at Wild Ginger in downtown Seattle. Wild Ginger is kind of a nuance Thai restaurant where they go a little fancier then the traditional Thai menu. We started off the night right with some champagne which was my Valentine's day gift from my housemate and then we got some pot stickers for the appetizer. We split everything family style we tasted some: chicken pad thai, seven season beef, green curry and a veggie dish called ram ju. Everything was delicious! Although its a close tie for me if I liked the beef or curry better. For dessert we split some ginger ice cream, blackberry sorbet and chocolate torte. Personally I thought if you put the blackberry sorbet on top of the torte, it'd be the best dessert :)

Here are some photos:

Now those are some fine looking ladies :)

On Saturday I went on a beer tour with two of my guy friends. For those of you who don't know me well, I hate beer in all shapes and forms. They are determined to make me like it and as a result I accompanied them to Fat Boy Brewery and we sampled a lot of beer. I found 2 that I can tolerate, one is a stout, it tastes like black coffee. And Hefenwisen, it tastes sweeter- they called it a girly beer. Our afternoon can be summed up w/ this isnta:

It was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

On Valentine's day I also got some great news! I got a job offer! I started work today at Loft9. Loft9 is a small consulting firm based in Bellevue, so I'll be working on the East side. I'm really excited to start working there! So far its super hectic and I have a TON to learn but I'm gonna do by absolute best!

Today in keeping with my half-marathon training I went for a 3 mile run around green lake, it was a little windy and a little chilly but it was great being outside.
Here's a snapshot:

Tomorrow I'm going to my first company dinner and later this week I'm volunteering at a charity event and cooking dinner with friends.
Also before I forget here's an update from my 30 days of love:

Day 8: my smile, when I smile my natural smile I know the I'm at my happiest

Day 9: Openness, I love meeting new people and doing new things, I'm proud of myself for not closing my mind about things

Day 10: My determination, I work hard to get what I want and I don't tend to give up

Day 11: my hands, I like how they're small and dexterous

Day 12: my tatas, they're firm and perky- and they bring all the boys to the yard ;)

Day 13: my wit, I'm a smart cookie and I pick up on things fairly fast

Day 14: my determination, I don't tend to give up easily even if something is hard

Day 15: my bellybutton, its an innie and not an outie and I've always liked it

Day 16: my skin, I was blessed with great skin, it usually looks nice and I rarely get acne

Day 17: my ability to be compassionate, I care a lot about my friends and family and tend to put them first

Day 18: my toes, I hate feet but I think my toes are cute

Day 19: my kindness, I've always found it to be easier to be nice instead of mean, and I take pride in my efforts to not be nasty

Peace and blogger love!

Chia-rific

Lately my housemate and I have gotten into chia seeds, they're great! In case you don't know what chia seeds are they're these seeds that are packed with fiber, protein and the good omegas. I've been throwing them in my coffee but there are a plethora of ways to enjoy them. So if you have any tips on how to use chia seeds, I'm all ears!

This week has become very active, last night I went to a book reading of a friends mom's book. The book seems fairly interesting and like it could be a good potential read. Tomorrow I'm going to my very first spin class with a new friend. The last time I rode a bike was probably when I was 15 and I rarely use the bikes at the gym so this will be a really interesting new experience. And on Saturday I'm going skiing with some friends. I haven't skied in almost 2 years so I'm really excited and really nervous. Hopefully skiing is just like riding a bicycle and you truly never forget. I'll let you know if I hit any trees…

I've also recently taken up doing digestive yoga some nights after I eat, you know to just get everything flowin…
Here's the link if you want to try, the breathing exercises are kind of funny:
http://www.doyogawithme.com/content/yoga-digestion-quickie

So far my 30 days of self-love have been going fairly well, here's day 2-7:

Day 2: my ears, because they're tiny and small and I can rock both big earrings or small

Day 3: My adventurous personality, I love how I'm always open to new and different things

Day 4: My laugh, I love the way it changes based on what I'm laughing about and who with

Day 5: my legs, I've run for years and as a result I have strong legs that can take me anywhere

Day 6: My eyebrows, I love that I thick full ones, with great shape. I feel that they really define my face.

Day 7: My ability laugh at myself, I don't take myself super seriously, which makes it easier for me to bounce back after a downturn 

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I Love...

This week I've been doing a fair amount of thinking about the kind of thoughts I've been having and the positive to negative ratio. Unfortunately there has been a lot more negative thoughts then positive ones, which I believe has a lot to do with my frustration at being in my current situation. I feel angry all the time, and I'm not necessarily at anything in particular, I'm just generally frustrated at my situation because I know I can only do so much to change it.

In order to change this I've decided that for the next 30 days I'm going to think of 1 thing that I love about myself, whether its physical or non-physical, I'm going to write each thing down in document and post it at the end of 30 days, and if you want to do it too and send it to me that'd be really cool.

People have an easy time saying they "love" something, like "I love chocolate" or "I love skiing", but rarely does someone use it to describe themselves. I've almost never heard anyone say that they love or even like the way they look. And its not just women, I've had guy friends question how they look, and say they need to gain more muscle or lose weight. Not to sound cliche but I think that everyone is beautiful just the way they are, and with all of my friends and family I wouldn't change a single thing.

I'm also hoping that the self-love I'm giving myself will help me see people differently and in a more positive way, I know that we all cave into secretly judging others and comparing ourselves to others. So during my 30 day challenge I'm going to spread the love, and luckily for me I'm just in time for Valentine's day ;)

To get this started here are some things that I generally love:
I love chocolate covered strawberries, and most chocolate in general.
I love goofing off with my housemates and friends.
I love my parent's cooking, I don't need a 5 star restaurant.
I love both of my doggies, both Wrigley who's with me now and Pepper who is in a better place.

Wrigley

Pepper

I love the view from my lake house, and I can't wait to spend time there this summer:

Last of all I love all of my friends, family and boyfriend who've been super supportive of me during this transition.

And for day 1 of the challenge: I love my eyes, I've always loved the color of my eyes I think that they're beautiful and unique and I think they are one my best and defining features.

Get out there and spread the love! :*

A new zone

This weekend I realized that I've entered a new zone of friendship that I wasn't quite sure existed. Since my boyfriend is abroad at graduate school, I've been hanging out with his friends while he is away. Its been a fun experience but I seem to be in this weird new zone that I've never experienced before. With my boyfriend's friends I feel strangely comfortable because everything is purely platonic and I feel like I can relax around them. This weekend we went out to a snazzy bar/club in Bellevue. I thought we were bowling but it turned out we were going to a bowling alley/club. It was for a friend of a friend's birthday, and there was bottle service which I had never had before and there was a weird club atmosphere. While at the bar it occurred to me that I had crossed into a new zone of friendship. My one friend asked me about potential girls and which ones I thought he should go for. With my other friend I was his "girlfriend". It was an odd zone to be in and I learned more about what guys think of girls, it was quite the eye-opener.

While I'm still on the job-hunt I'm spending my time exercising, reading and spending time with the family. I have a few leads and I'm hoping that I'll be employed by Valentine's day.

Things I'm reading: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Listening to: Bangerz by Miley Cyrus
Still obsessed with: Gossip Girl
Craving: The Kirk Park Medium Maise by Kate Spade


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xoxo

Time flies

So things got crazy after Thanksgiving, all the holidays seemed to come right after another, it seemed like just yesterday I was celebrating my birthday.


I had a fairly uneventful Thanksgiving and Christmas, my family always spends Thanksgiving with my dad's family down in Saint Louis and my mom's parents came up here for Christmas. It was great seeing so much family so closely together. The highlight of my holidays was going down to Chicago to see my boyfriend and my friends from high school. Over my 7 day adventure I ate like a princess, I'm still surprised that my stomach hasn't expanded to the size of an elephants. I enjoyed everything from squid ink noodles to lamb to escargot to scallops. I have a deep love for seafood and fortunately my boyfriend treated me to all the seafood that I could eat. We also got to see some real live seafood, we met up with a college friend of mine and went to the Shedd Aquarium. The Shedd is hands down one of my favorite places in the city of Chicago. Although I'm terrified of deep water I've always had a deep love of sea life. We checked out the jellies and the sharks and the dolphin show. However after watching Blackfish the other night I felt bad about watching the dolphin show. The documentary really causes you to question what you saw in your childhood and what to do with big marine animals.

For New Years Eve this year I went out with my bf and a good friend from high school and her boyfriend. We started the night off like champions by splitting a bottle of Andre and then headed out to a bar in Lincoln Park that for a mere $60 you could have all the alcohol you wanted and a champagne toast. Supposedly there was food as well but I didn't notice. The night was super fun and super snowy! The only downside of the evening was that I had accidentally worn my skirt inside out and the fact that I may have had one too many cran and vodkas.

Chicago was a great winter adventure, for the Midwest is truly a winter wonderland. In my time there it snowed about a foot as well as the temperature dropped down into the negatives. It was a good throwback to my childhood and spending many long winters in the snow. It was great to see both my boyfriend who I hadn't seen since early September and my high school friends who many I hadn't seen since last year. It was great how no matter how much time had passed that things never really changed and we could just pick up where we left off.

Since I've been back in the PNW I've started seriously training for my half-marathon, so far I'm on week 2 and doing a variant of the run-walk and getting above 2 miles. It gets a little boring running the same routes but I hope as I increase my distances I'll find better places to run. With my return to Seattle my contract ended so I've been enjoying a lot of me time as I look for a new job. So far I've been feeling fairly positive and haven't quite given into the unemployment despair quite yet.

As for now I'm going to keep reading and running and looking. Tomorrow I'm going down to help my sorority house practice for their upcoming recruitment.
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