Politics

I've never been very into politics. I found it all too confusing and didn't really think that I should be voting on things that I had no clue about. Plus, there was never really anything that I felt strongly enough about to want to vote on. In fact, before this year, I'd only ever voted once. (Please don't start throwing stones at me yet!) But recently my views on politics and voting changed. The second time in my life that I voted (and only the first time at a poling place) was just a few months ago and was for some local officials and measures. Even then, I was very proud to receive my little "I voted" sticker :D

The presidential primaries were really what changed things for me. The idea of being part of such a historic time in our nation and possibly being able to vote for our first female or black president was so exciting! Unfortunately, I didn't register in time to be able to vote in the primaries :( but I will be able to vote for President. And not only will I be voting, but I've also been watching some of the Democratic National Convention! Shocker!! I wouldn't say that now I'm really INTO politics (I still prefer trashy news shows over the actual news), but I definitely am paying more attention to what's going on in the political arena. Hmm, does this mean I'm a grown up now?

Not much training going on here

You remember how I blogged not too long ago about how I needed to get back into training again? Yeah, that hasn't happened. Last week I ran/walked with Amy on Monday and didn't do any running OR walking with Claudia. Monday night Amy's sis and bro-in-law were still in town so instead of running I met Ann and Lara for drinks. Last night Claudia had a few things she needed to take care of after work so we ended up just meeting for some dinner and drinks. Tomorrow she can't do any running because she'll be swimming in Shadowcliffs-- not that I'm complaining much since tomorrow's supposed to be the hottest day of the week.

At some point I really WILL get off my lazy butt and start training again! Maybe this weekend. Don't hold your breath though... I'm not holding mine :D

(Not-at-all) Clear Lake

This last weekend I got to do a little camping in Clear Lake. The weekend has initially been planned as a big getaway for our TNT group of friends. Unfortunately other things came up for the majority of the group and it ended up being just me, Lael, his friend Kelvin and girlfriend Amie who could make it. Although I had been excited about hanging out with the big group, I knew that the 4 of us would still have a good time. Never having been to Clear Lake though, I didn't really know what to expect.

Lael and I decided that to maximize our camping time, we'd head up to Clear Lake (about 3 hours north of Walnut Creek) on Thursday after work. That way we'd have two fulls days there, and half of Sunday. We ended up leaving a little later than intended and after too long on some windy little roads, we finally got up to Clear Lake State Park at about 10:00pm. We checked out our campsite, said hello to the skunk that was hanging out in the bushes at the edge of our site (EEEKKK!!!), gazed up for a bit at the super bright stars and set up our tent. Our campsite was really nice... we were under a bunch of trees, which ended up provided us with plenty of much needed shade during the day, and our campsite was well blocked off from the sites next to us. After getting the tent put up, all of our things put away, and playing a few rounds of cards we finally went to sleep around 1:00am (WAY past my usual bedtime!). Even with the crickets causing a racket, it was really easy to fall asleep!

Friday morning we woke up at a decent time-- the campground wasn't too crowded, so we weren't woken up really early by the usual campground noise. We made a yummy breakfast and decided on what we would do that day before Kelvin and Amie got there. We walked along the boardwalk path out to the swimming area (gross-- all this algae floating in the water) and then around to some of the other areas. And that pretty much exhausted all of our activity plans. We spent the rest of the day playing cards, tossing around the football and frisbee, napping, reading, trying to stay cool (it was in the 90's), and trying not to die from boredom. Around noon all of the weekday campers starting clearing out and the campground felt really deserted. It was kind of creepy actually. Later in the afternoon the weekend campers started showing up and it got much more crowded.

The boardwalk trail and slough behind our campsite

The slough in the morning... it actually looks pretty!

Ugg, not so pretty here... the later in the day it got, the more icky looking it got

The backside of our campsite from the trail

Lael and I checking out the lake

Clear Lake at sunset

Water activities like boating, swimming and fishing are the main attractions at Clear Lake. Since the water really isn't nice enough to swim in (and I don't really swim in large bodies of water anyway-- I hate fishies), we didn't have a boat, and weren't interested in fishing, that didn't leave us with a whole lot of entertainment options. Our late evening activities consisted of a shower (me) and a run (Lael). Finally around 8:30 when Lael got back from his run we decided to start getting dinner ready. We had some yummy chicken, salad, and guacamole. Kelvin and Amie arrived right when we were eating so after we finished, and they had put up their tent, we chowed down on some s'mores and stayed up till 1:00am laughing and talking. As loud as we were, the rangers only came by once around 11:00 to let us know that it was quiet hours.

After we got up on Saturday morning, we had a nice breakfast of French Toast, sausage and OJ. The morning was spent just hanging out and relaxing... throwing the football around and playing board games. On Friday morning after talking to Kelvin and Amie, Lael reserved a boat for us for Saturday afternoon-- the pricing was very reasonable and it would be something fun to do, another than just hanging around in the campground. We packed up some lunch and some drinks and then drove over the Lakeport where the boat rental place was. Before heading out in the boat with a wakeboard, and innertube, we got a little boating lesson. I find it a little surprising that after spending just 10 minutes with you they give you the keys and send you on your way. Yeah, it's not as difficult as driving a car, but you're still handling this very expensive item that goes pretty darn fast.

Kelvin and Amie on the boat

Amie getting ready to wakeboard!

Kelvin, Lael and Amie all tried out the wakeboarding while I took video from the boat. None of them had much experience wakeboarding, and NO experience driving while wakeboarding, so there were quite a few spills. After they each tried it a few times, it was almost time to return the boat so we headed back towards shore and then spent the remaining time dragging the three of them around on the giant tube thing.

Lael getting up on the wakeboard:

Kelvin and Amie's wild tube ride:

After we got back from the boat, everyone was exhausted! I went to take shower and when I got back, everyone was sleeping exactly where I had left them! Later that evening we cooked up a yummy dinner of burgers and hot dogs, followed of course by some s'mores. We were definitely quieter that night and even though I could hardly keep my eyes open, we didn't go to sleep until around midnight! The next morning after we all got up we ate a little food and then started the long process of packing everything up :( We left the campground a little before noon and on our way to the bay area we stopped for a late lunch at the Red Hen Cantina in Napa. Although it was a really fun weekend, I think we were all ready to go home, shower and nap. And that's exactly what I did as soon as I got home!!

Kicking Cancer's Butt

A few months ago a friend of ours was diagnosed with Uterine Cancer. The mass that was inside of her was too large to remove through surgery but after a few months of chemo, it was sufficiently shrunk down enough to be removed! She was a complete rockstar during Chemo and didn't experience many of the worst side effects. She came out of surgery yesterday and all reports say that she is doing fine and recovering well! WOO HOO!!! Now all my fingers and toes are crossed hoping that she's recovers quickly and that we find that the surgery got rid of all the cancer!

Today after work I'm off to Clear Lake for a weekend of camping. I've never been up there before and I've heard that despite the name, Clear Lake is not actually clear, especially at this time of year! One of the most popular activities at Clear Lake is fishing, which means there are lots of BIG fish in there, which means I will NOT be getting in the water!! I think we'll have a lot of fun just hanging out, relaxing, eating and maybe getting in some hiking. I'm sure I'll be coming back on Sunday one dirty, sweaty, tired girl!

Sad goodbye

In a bit of sad news, my parents had to sell their condo in Tahoe :( They first bought it back in 1993 when I was still in high school and although it's given us years of fun Tahoe trips, the time came to sell it. Since the new owners are taking over at the end of the month, we decided that instead of a trip up to celebrate my brother's birthday in Portland, he'd come down and we'd do the celebrating in Tahoe instead! We haven't had all four of us there in awhile and it was nice to be able to celebrate my brother's bday, and say goodbye to the condo together!

We spent the weekend doing many of our favorite Tahoe activities, which means we ate a lot and spent a bunch of time sitting on the beach :) The weather was really nice, even on the HOT side, which is rare for Tahoe. I know we'll be back up to Tahoe again since it's one of our favorite places to go, but it will feel a little weird staying somewhere different at first. But then again, going to Tahoe is more about enjoying the lake and the mountains and the gorgeous scenery, and less about where you actually lay your head down to sleep :)

Yummy mango margaritas :)

Being silly :)

On the pier at the Hyatt-- favorite spot for drinks

BBQing-- who let them have control of the fire??

Lunch at the Rainbow Lodge on our way back down the mountain.

Off track

It's training time again! With the Nike Half not too far away, it's time to get back into some more consistent running. After New York I was doing pretty well... running once or twice during the week. But lately even that small amount of running has been hard to maintain-- Busy schedules and heat keep getting in the way!

This week Claudia and I were good girls and still met up on Tuesday night, even though it was hot out. BUT, did we decide to walk instead of run... OF COURSE!! The rest of my week has been pretty low key, but it hasn't involved any kind of exercise. I think next week I'll need to get a little more serious about my training, and start doing the longer runs on the weekend. We'll see how that plan fits in with the weather, a camping trip, and a 3 day weekend. Maybe I'll wait until September to really get serious! :D

More birthday celebrating

Is it just me or does it seem like the Olympics have been on forever, even though it's only been a few days? This is going to be a long two weeks!

Friday night I managed to watch just about 45 minutes of the Opening Ceremonies. Very cool, just way too long. Since I was TiVoing it, I figured I'd just watch it later when I could "boop, boop" through the commercial and boring parts! Plus, I needed to get up early so that I could be in Alameda by 6:30 to help out with a water stop :( Water stop duty was actually pretty fun, and I got to see a lot of old team peeps, and of course Mama Lisa and Coach. I got home a little before noon, took a shower, and then took a nap :) Saturday night I had been invited to a going away party for a woman that I know who is moving to Canada... she is the cousin of a former co-worker and 1/4th of the "Vodka Klatch" as her hubby likes to call us :D I figured I'd drop by, say goodbye, visit for awhile and then be back in bed at a semi-reasonable time... didn't really turn out that way! The party was a lot of fun, even though it was sad to say goodbye to Maureen :( We told her when the three of us remaining girls got together again, we'd have to call her and put her on speaker phone so she could still have a cocktail with us :D BYE MAUREEN!!!

Sunday was Ms. Lindsay's actual birthday and it was a day full of celebrations! We were both up around 9:00am watching the rest of the Opening Ceremonies when Lindsay gets a surprise visit from her sister and two nephews! They came bearing gifts, balloons and breakfast! Lindsay's sister made some yummy waffles with fruit and whipped cream, and sausages and she was nice enough to let me join them :D YUMMMM! After lazing around the house a little, Lindsay and I got ready and headed out to the Lafayette Reservoir to grab a picnic area for the day's 2nd celebration :) At 1:00 a bunch of Lindsay's friends and family came to BBQ and hang out. It ended up being pretty hot but we still had a fun day of eating, drinking and hanging out :) I came home later that day stuffed, tired and filthy!

Sneaky

I'm not all that great at keeping secrets-- unless of course it's something very important-- but I've been keeping a secret all week :) Last week I heard that a surprise party was in the works for Lindsay, my new roomie. Her BF, cousin and our friend Jeanette were working on planning a surprise get together for her 25th birthday. Despite a few close calls, and despite many of our facebook profiles announcing yesterday how excited we were for the evening, the surprise party went off without a hitch! Lindsay had no idea anything was going on and she was completely surprised, and I think very touched, when she walked in the door of the Artisan wine bar to about 20 of her friends and family yelling SURPRISE! Hee hee... being sneaky is fun!

Change Part II

A little while ago, I wrote about how there seems to be a lot of change going on around me, and how there was a change happening in my life too. Most of you already know what that is, but for the rest of you, I HAVE A NEW ROOMIE!!! I know, that's not a mind blowing change, but it is kind of big for me... The Girl Who Hates Change :D

About a month ago, my former roomie told me she was going to be looking for a place to live in Berkeley, which is closer to where she goes to school, and where she really spends most of her time. It was a move that made sense, but I wasn't excited about the prospect of looking for another roommate. It's such a crap shoot... you could start out with someone who seems normal, only to find that they drive you crazy. But also you can end up with someone who becomes your best friend (LOVE YOU Claudia!!)

So, needless to say, I was not excited about my roommate's move, especially since she really didn't know WHEN she would be moving. She had wanted to take her time and find the perfect place for her, which put me in a holding pattern until she found that place. But everything turned out perfectly :D My very good friend Lindsay was also going through some housing drama and it ended up that when I needed a roomie, she also need a place to live AND a roomie! Perfect!

So last Thursday the former roomie moved out, and I spent the next few days cleaning like a mad woman! And don't you hate how you start cleaning, and everything starts to look even dirtier?!! After I got home on Thursday I cleaned, until I finally went to bed. Friday night after going to see Jeanette's band play in Blackhawk, I cleaned until bedtime. Saturday before going to Sonoma with Rocky and Claudia, I cleaned. Sunday before helping Lindsay move in, I was still cleaning! Just when I finally felt better after trapeze, I'm sore again from all the scrubbing!

Now it's been two days since Lindsay moved in and the place is really starting to come together! There are still a few things to be put away, and a bunch of pictures to be hung, but it really looks nice. Last night we had Claudia, Rocky amd Lindsay's BF Russ over for dinner and to help us put Lindsay's computer together (THANKS ROCKY!!!) and hang some pictures (THANKS RUSS!).

Birthday time

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!!!

Flying Trapeze

Unlike many of my other friends, and myself, Lael usually plans some kind of physical activity for his birthday. For his 30th it was paintballing (no thanks) and this year it was Trapeze. He had gone earlier this month for another birthday and enjoy it so much he decided that's what he wanted to do for his birthday as well. Great :( BUT, since I skipped out on the paintballing, I figured that I'd take part in the trapeze. Mind you, I was terrified about the idea of jumping off a platform 25 feet up and swinging through the air but thought this would be a good challenge for myself. Although I knew I'd probably enjoy myself, and be glad after the fact that I went, I was so nervous all last week :(

Saturday arrived, Claudia came over to get ready at my place after her training, and Lael picked us up about 2:00 to head up to Vallejo, where we were meeting Lael's GF Jen who would be taking us the rest of the way to Sonoma. Once we got into Sonoma, we took this little, windy road up into the hills to SkyFarm Trapeze. Even though I was nervous, I could still appreciate how beautiful it was up there-- the trapeze was outdoors in a grove of oak trees. Once there we were met by some more of Lael's friends and our trapeze instructors for the day: Marek, Hope and Darrel.

The first thing they started out doing was teaching us the "Knee Hang." This is the same thing that we used to do when we were kids on the jungle gym... it's a little harder to do as an adult :D They had a trapeze bar set up closer to the ground and we all practiced grabbing on to the bar, swinging our legs up and onto the bar, and then letting go with our hands and hanging there. This was one of the things I was nervous about doing... I wasn't sure that I could get my not-too-flexible legs up to the bar. It wasn't the prettiest or most graceful thing, but I did it. Lael, Jen and Kelvin, who had all done this before, got to practice a different "trick": The Bird's Nest for the boys, and the Splits for Jen.

After we had all tried the Knee Hang, it was time to get into our harnesses. I had been warned that these things were tight, but I had no idea! He cinched... and cinched... and then cinched it some more until I felt like I couldn't breathe anymore. At that point I think I almost had a panic attack because it was so hard to breathe! Once we were strapped in like sausages, Marek taught us what we were going to be doing once we got up to the platform. Feet at the edge of the platform, grab on to the pole with your left hand to anchor yourself, "pee pee"out (stick your hips forward over the edge), grab the bar with your right hand, then with your left, and then 1, 2, "HEP" and JUMP!!!

We let the experienced three go up first and then after the next two bravest, it was my turn. AHHH!! First we had to climb up this little dinky ladder to the platform 25 feet up. I was already shaking and nervous about falling off before I even got to the platform! Once up there I chalked my hands and Darell clipped me in. I grabbed the pole with my left hand, grabbed the bar with my right but when he told me to let go with my left hand, lean out there and grab the bar with my left hand, all of my survival instincts told me NOOO!!! But I did it and was totally freaked out leaning out over the platform with only Darell's hand through the back of my harness keeping me up there. But then an amazing thing happened... Once they yelled "HEP" and I jumped, all my nervousness disappeared! All you're thinking of is this sensation of flying through the air and concentrating on getting your legs up and then hands off the bar. Even hanging upside down wasn't scary... since you're swinging back and forth, and the net is below you, you can't really see how high up you are. After a couple of swings they told me to put my hands back on the bar and then they talked us through a little flip, and we just dropped down to the net. No biggie! (You can also watch the first video in the post below).

All of us took turn practicing our knee hangs, and then it was time to practice a "Catch" where one of our instructors would be up there swinging upside down on another trapeze bar and he'd try to catch our hands as we were swinging upside down. Unfortunately, by this time I was getting really tired. You use a lot of your core muscles to get your legs up and hooked on the bar, and after a few practice swings, I could tell it was getting harder to get my legs up. After Marek talked us through the catch on the ground, we all got two turns to get it. It didn't get it either time :( On my first try I just couldn't get my legs up... and then the second time I got my legs up, but I wasn't swinging high enough for him to gran my arms-- we only managed to slap hands :) (That's the 2nd video in the post below). Despite not getting a "catch", I still had a fun time and I'm SO glad that I did it. Boy do I have the bruises and sore muscles to show for it though! I have bruises on my feet, shins, and the back of my knees... I've got a mark on my stomach from the harness, and the sorest muscles I've ever had! Today it's 4 days since we went and I'm STILL sore!!

After our Trapeze class we all headed back to the square in Sonoma and had dinner at Mary's Pizza Shack. After that crazy workout, we were all pretty hungry and managed to save some room for ice cream afterwards!

Flying Olivia

Here's what I did this weekend:





I know it's hard to see, but yep, that's me (oooh, that rhymes!!)... and I have the bruises, bumps, calluses and sore muscles to prove it! I'll post the whole story with pictures tomorrow!

Welcome back to the hot weather and smoke... Uggg

Yep, they're both back! After some REALLY cool days, the weather started warming up and with a change in the wind, the smoke made a reappearance as well! Just in time for a nice run on Thursday!

Pam and I met up for our usual Thursday night run. I hated the route we took last week... too hilly and long, so requested that we change things up this week :) Pam thankfully agreed and our new route was much easier and gave us a little change in scenery. When you run the same trail or route over and over again it starts to get boring so it's nice to change it up a little! Again, I forgot my Garmin, so I'm not sure how far we went, or what our pacing was. I felt like we were running a tad faster than usual, but Pam felt like the heat was having more of an effect on us... she was probably right, it was pretty warm out.

I'm sad that our running days together are almost over. :( In just a couple of weeks, Pam will be moving all the way to Washington, DC. I initially met Pam through Amy, when Amy let me crash their twice weekly runs after the New York Marathon. When Amy got injured and had to take a break, Pam and I kept running together and got a chance to get to know eachother better-- she's been a great running partner! I think I've got at least one more run left with her before she leaves and after that I'll have to figure out a new running schedule!

Stitch N' Pitch

Yep it's that time of year again... the annual Stitch N' Pitch Giants game! I think this is the 3rd year that we've gone to this event... the first year we got a cute little tote with a bunch of knitting swag, last year we got another tote with a little less knitting swag and this we got a hat. That's it. A hat. I'm not too excited about that but now I do have a hat to wear on the rare occasion I go to a Giant's game!

There was a pretty big group of us last night and although I hardly watched any of the game (big shock) I did have fun! We chatted, gossiped, snacked and of course didn't do too much knitting! THANKS Amy and Claudia for putting it all together!

Dancing Queen

This weekend was a pretty mellow one. Friday night I met up with my friend Ann and we went to dinner and then to see Mamma Mia! I had never seen the Broadway musical and didn't know what it was all about until I saw the previews for the movie. The theater was PACKED with women and we got stuck sitting in the second row! It didn't take us long to get used to being so close to the screen and we really enjoyed the movie. It's silly, campy and in some parts cheesy but a lot of fun. A few times during some of the song and dance parts, I caught myself looking up at the screen with the dorky smile on my face. Thank god the theater is dark!!

Saturday I spent the day running errands and dealing with a migraine headeache :( Thankfully it came in the morning and I was feeling better by the time I needed to get ready to head to the city for a TNT friend's fundraiser at a club. Phil and I were planning on meeting up at BART and then grabbing dinner in the city before walking over to the Cellar. Unfortunately the migraine came back on the BART ride in. I stopped at Walgreens on the walk to the Daily Grille and bought some migraine medicine but it really didn't get rid of the headache until the middle of dinner, and by that time I had started feeling really nauseous :( Ugg. I was such a bad dinner companion to Phil... I didn't touch any of my pasta, or even drink any of my soda... but I knew that I couldn't just ditch him to go home. After Phil inhaled his food (at least one of us had an appetite!!) we walked over to the Cellar (and dropped my uneaten pasta on a stoop along the way, hoping some homeless person would be able to enjoy it). By the time we got to the Cellar I was feeling much better. Although the night didn't turn into one of our usually debaucherous Cellar evenings, Claudia, Phil and I had fun. By the time Phil and I were headed back to BART, I was RAVENOUS so we stopped for Thai food along the way. I don't think I stopped to breathe one time during the meal... I just inhaled it all!

Sunday I still wasn't feeling 100% so I just spent the day napping and reading. I managed to finish a book that I had just started on Saturday! And BTW, what's with the weather? When did it turn into winter again? I went out on the balcony to read for a little yesterday and almost froze my hiney off... I had to come inside to get a sweatshirt! I know that sometimes weather and barometric changes can trigger migraines so I guess can blame my migraines on that!

O.M.G.!

Last night while I was waiting for So You Think You Can Dance to start at 9:00, I watched the season premiere of Project Runway that my TiVo had taped on Wed. night. I was watching along when all of a sudden a familiar face pops up onscreen. Just like a teenager, the first thing out of my mouth was "O.M.G."! I went to college with one of the designers, Jerry Tam! I instantly recognized him, even though it's been 10 years since I last saw him. We weren't what I would call "friends" in college, but I definitely knew who he was, saw him at parties, and we had a few mutual friends.

Part of the reason I was so blown away (other than the fact that I KNEW someone on TV!!) was because I never would have guessed in college that he would end up designing clothes. Santa Clara University is not an artsy fartsy college, and Jerry was a frat boy -- not that you CAN'T be a frat boy AND designer, it's just that the two don't usually go hand in hand! I read his bio online and it says that after getting his degree he started a software company and then decided he wanted to pursue his creative side and moved to New York where, after attending a couple design schools and working for another designers, he now has his own clothing line called FORM. Who woulda guessed?! Unfortunately, Jerry did not make it far and was the first person to be "Auf'd" :( So sad :(

Last night before the Project Runway excitement I went on a run with Pam. Ugg, I felt just as sluggish as I did on Monday! This time, because of the Farmer's Market in Danville, we met at the Park and Ride off Sycamore Valley. We ran out on the trail, and then through the neighborhoods back to Sycamore Valley. I think part of why I felt so tired was because a lot of the run (except for the last little bit down Sycamore Valley back to the lot) was mostly an incline :( I definitely felt it and by the time we got back to our cars, I was pooped! Again, I didn't have my Garmin on so I don't know how far we went (I know it was further than usual) and what our pace was. It could be that we were running faster than usual, OR that I was just lagging :( Hopefully this Monday's run will go a little better!

Change

Change is in the air. No, not the smoke anymore... CHANGE. So many people I know are moving out of town, out of state, out of the country, ending old jobs, getting new jobs, ending relationships, starting relationships, companies starting new ventures. Change scares me but it can sometimes turn out to be a good thing. I just changed desks as work. Very exciting, I know :) Since moving into our current office building in Nov. 2002, I've been at the same desk. My boss always told me whenever someone left that I could change work areas if I wanted to but I was always happy to stay in my little cubby. Recently a new desk space opened up though and I snagged it. This was a good change :) My new work area is filled with more natural light and it's a little more open. I like it :D There's another change brewing right now... we'll see if that one turns out as well!

So last post I mentioned how I was going for a run on Monday with Pam and Amy and wasn't sure how that was going to go after some time off. Uh yeah, didn't go so well! Amy met us out there, but had decided not to go running with us so it was just Pam and I. Pam just did a half marathon on Sunday so she wanted to take it a little slower... thank god for that because I was struggling! I think it was a combination of the lack of running with all the crap I've been eating and drinking lately. Even though the weather was perfect and there was even a little breeze, I was dragging. It took me over 2 miles to feel like I was warmed up, and the last little stretch went okay. Ugg, we'll see how the run tonight goes too!

Exhausting Weekend

Exhausting, but fun I should have said :D Last week I spend pretty much the whole week recovering from 4th of July and saving my energy for this last weekend :D I managed to fit in one night of exercise so it wasn't a complete wash :) Since the weather last week was so insanely hot, and the air was still icky out, Amy and decided to meet up and walk instead of run. Thank god I grabbed a water bottle with water on the way out of the house because even though we were just strolling along, I needed it! On the way out we were just chatting away and by the time we decided it was time to turn around, we'd gone about 2 miles. So round trip we did about 4 miles, compared to our usual 3.2 miles when we run. Not bad... it felt nice to get out and do some kind of exercise (if you could actually count our strolling pace as being "exercise") :D

This was definitely a Team In Training weekend. On Saturday our friend Brandon was hosting the Diablo Valley Spring team End of the Season Party. He invited a few non-DV team peeps, me included, and since we never turn down a reason to eat and drink, we decided to go. We know a few poeple on that team so we still had a lot of fun-- but boy did I eat too much :( My food baby was about to pop! We got home about 8:30 and then I headed out to Danville to meet up with a friend for drinks.

Sunday morning I got to sleep in a little (I LUV that part about not training... sleeping in :D) and then headed out to Lake Temescal where we were having the Bayside Spring team End of the Season party (which I AM a part of :D) The BBQ wasn't supposed to start until 12:30, but I went out around 10:00 to grab a spot. Thankfully I did go out early because there was only one lonely little picnic table left. Of course there was NO grill so I called Claudia and she came to the rescue :D THANK YOU!! I had never been to Lake Temescal and it's actually a really great spot for picnics/BBQs. It's a little confusing to get to, even though it's tucked right between Highway 24 and 13. As the day went on, the place got PACKED with people out there enjoying the warm weather. We spent the afternoon catching up with teammates, eating MORE food and having a good time. I was so pooped though by the time that I got home, I didn't even unpack the car-- my trunk is jam packed with two coolers, a small BBQ and all sorts of other stuff! I'll get to it later!

Tonight Amy, Pam and I are back to our regularly scheduled run... thankfully it's cooled down a little and the air isn't so crappy. After about two weeks off of running, we'll see how well I do tonight!

A weekend of celebrations!

Woo, that was a fun 3 day weekend! Friday we had a fun 4th of July celebration at the Lafayette Reservoir. I went out there around 9:00 so I could dump some stuff off and save a couple tables. After I went back home, showered and made the sangria I headed back out there to hang out and make sure no one took our spot before our official picnic start time at 1:00. Luckily I have a few friends who are always early :D so I didn't have to hang out by myself for too long! Phil arrived first, then Claudia and Rocky with the dogs and then everyone else started trickling in. We had a perfect picnic spot... 2 tables together in this little wooded picnic area... it totally felt like we were camping :D We had some shade, were close to the kid's play area and had plenty of room to set out chairs and blankets. We had TONS of yummy food and spent the day eating, drinking, chatting and enjoying the beautiful day! Lindsay and I even took a little spin around the reservoir in a paddle boat!

Around 6:30 or so most everyone was headed, or heading, home but a few of us wanted to see the fireworks in San Ramon. Since they didn't start until 9:45 we went over to Lael's house to hang out until it was time to drive down to the Bishop Ranch area. The fireworks weren't as spectacular as I had remembered them from a few years ago, but they were still nice. A lot of them didn't hardly clear the tree line so we didn't get the full effect of them exploding up in the sky. It was a nice end to the day though :D

Saturday was Claudia's birthday... WOO HOO!! I spent the morning just relaxing and then went to get my hair cut at 2:30. I was SO excited about getting it cut... it had literally been MONTHS since I had gone in for a cut! A little before I left for the salon, I get a message from Claudia telling me that in all the party planning and excitement, she had forgotten to get a cake :( Olivia to the rescue! After my haircut I swung by a bakery in Walnut Creek... thankfully they had one last larger cake available!

Claudia had her bday celebration at Artisan in Walnut Creek. It's a cute little wine bar with yummy sangria that I've been to a couple of times before. Our group pretty much took up the entire place and we hung out enjoying some finger food, sangria, wine and then cake. Once everyone started arriving, the warm weather, combined with a little wine, led to a little bit of overheating (and of course sweating). Lovely. It was one of those times when you know it's going to get ugly and will take more than a moment to cool down. Fanning with birthday cards ensued, and then a trip outside with Lindsay where it was actually warmer but at least no one could see me getting "dewier" by the moment :D Finally I cooled down enough to go back inside and I was fine the rest of the evening. Ugg, so gross. I was happy though that I wasn't the only one that happened to, just the first :D

Artisan has a fun little tasting area with this machine that dispenses a taste of various wines. You buy a card worth any amount you want (I did $10), you stick the card in the machine, choose the wine you want, and it dispenses a small amount. It's a nice way to try a number of different wines! After most everyone had left Artisan, the rest of us party people went over to 1515, this new restaurant/bar, for a few drinks. We didn't stay there too long-- just enough time for a couple more drinks and some food. By the time we left, the place was really getting packed and I think we were all tired from the long evening!

Sunday was a relaxing day... I met up with Lindsay and Claudia for brunch in Walnut Creek and then afterwards spent the rest of the day doing some laundry, downloading pictures from the weekend and just hanging out. After a busy Friday and Saturday it was nice to be able to spend the day doing nothing much! I hope everyone else had a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!!

WOO HOO... Three day weekend!

Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone!!!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY Claudia!! I can't wait to celebrate with you on Saturday!!