Best Friend Friday No. 12

 Way back in November I saw on Facebook that Cal Expo was hosting an ongoing event in December with lots of lights and amusement rides. All of the lights looked really cool and I thought it would be neat to walk around and see a whole bunch of Christmas decorations in one place.

It reminded me of driving around to look at Christmas lights in different neighborhoods, except this time it was actually like walking from door to door.

I mentioned this to Lauren and got her on board too. We figured if the perfect moment popped up in our busy Sacramento schedules, then we'd give it a shot. It seemed really fun, but I didn't want to be stressed having to fit it in.

About a week later I received a text from my mom asking if we wanted to go to Global Winter Wonderland while we were in town with the rest of my family. Of course we responded, saying we would love to go. It's like it was meant to be. It took a while to find a date that worked with everyone's different schedules, but we were all able to free up time in the evening of the 26th.

We all happily agreed to skip the rides and simply enjoy the fanfare of the lights and scenery. As we entered the venue, I was pleased to learn that the attraction was actually a decorated representation of the world. Global Winter Wonderland highlighted many of the famous creations found throughout the globe. My favorite spectacles included the: pandas and dragon in China; huge peacock (I'm not sure which country that's from); gondola and gondolier in Italy; Big Ben in England; and the more locally recognized Golden Gate Bridge.

After walking around taking tons of pictures, we decided to sit down for a little bit and enjoy the Circus of Lights show featuring acts from different cultures. There were many performances by Chinese contortionists and plate spinners, Argentinian dancing gauchos, and Kenyan acrobats. The majority of the show was pretty good, although it did seem a little long and repetitive. Maybe it was just the fact that I was freezing sitting outside for over an hour, but I was happy to go inside and walk around the market.

I was expecting to see a lot of various "handmade" items from around the world, being that the theme of the overall attraction was "global". However, the most "diverse" items being sold were stun guns and tasers, and those don't really scream "diversity" to me, in a positive way.

Although I wasn't super impressed with the holiday market and I would've been happily content with watching just the first half of the show, I'm glad I did go to Global Winter Wonderland solely to admire the lit up wonders of the world. A good Friday was had not only by besties, but also by my family.   

2015 Resolutions

I wasn't planning on making any resolutions for the new year. I figured my monthly goals were plenty to keep my challenged. But alas, the last few days of December I found myself really wanting to set several goals, completely separate from my 24th birthday goals and subsequent monthly goals lists.

In 2015 I want to...
1. Run a marathon in under 5 hours, regardless of how many attempts it takes me. (*Side note: I just signed up for the San Francisco Marathon in July!)

2. Do something crafty every single day, even if that means just knitting one row of a project.

3. Get my 10,000 steps in everyday. I lost my original FitBit in November, so Lauren bought be a new one for Christmas. Now I'm determined to get everything I can out of this device which means pushing myself to get those steps so that it buzzes everyday.

For me, in order to be successful in accomplishing something, my goals must be specific. Personally, it doesn't work to tell myself that "I'm going to run more". What is more? Am I going to run more miles than I did the previous year? Am I going to every single day throughout the year? To be successful I need to clarify exactly what it is that I was to accomplish. Thus, my New Year's resolution is to get a marathon PR and break that 5 hour marker.

Related to running, I want to improve my fitness and get back into shape. This isn't something that's going to happen by running 5 miles once a week or whatever. I believe that fitness and health should be incorporated into everyday life. As cool as it would be to say that I ran every single day for an entire year, that's just not something that's healthy for me. I ended up with bursitis in my hip because I pushed myself too hard when I ran everyday in October. I need those rest days to let my body recuperate. Health is something that is always on my mind. I do a pretty good job of watching what I eat (when I'm not home for the holidays!), so I wanted exercise to be something that I also keep track of on a daily basis. What better way to do this than by making sure I get 10,000 steps a day. While full on running isn't something that I should do everyday (personally), walking around 5 miles per day is very doable for me and something that won't hurt my body by overexerting myself. By getting my steps in, I'm also encouraging myself to get out more and explore my city.

I like doing crafty things. In the past few years I've rekindled my joy of sewing. I recently picked up knitting again. I find cross stitching very rewarding, although super time consuming. And I find pleasure in doing all things crafty in between. I didn't want craftiness to become a chore, but I do want to be more creative in this new year. I want to make sure I'm using my time being somewhat productive, rather than just wasting my days browsing the Internet. 

So far, 9 days into the new year, I've done something crafty everyday but haven't tracked 10,000 steps everyday. I'm slowly easing back into running and created a running calendar so that I can highlight the daily mileage I actually do.

This almost feels like Lent in January to me...just a thought.

And there you go. Here's to hoping I keep my resolutions!

Best Friend Friday No. 11

Sometime back in November, Lauren and I received our invitations to my cousin Abby's 5th birthday party. The rest of my family also obviously attended, as well as Lauren's mom Leti along with Leti's 5 year old granddaughter, Kimi. Abby and Kimi have met once before, but it's always so funny to watch little kids play together and act like best friends even though they haven't seen each other in over a year. So on this Friday, three weeks ago, Lauren and I spent "Best Friend Friday" doing best friend things celebrating Abby's birthday.

Her birthday party was held at a local children's science museum. I remember going to the Discovery Museum when I was a kid; in the back of the center is a planetarium where patrons get to view our solar system and the Earth's sky at nighttime. Just as I recall from my childhood, at Abby's party the guide described the solar system, specific stars, and the big constellations at a young kid's level. I was surprised at how many preschoolers actually knew all the planets, and one even asked about Pluto.

The party was casually catered, but my aunt made sure that there would be a healthy amount of vegan options. I enjoyed the fruit salad (especially the pineapple!) and the pasta salad with kale. But I was really impressed that there were also crackers and vegan almond cheese! I've never tried almond cheese before, let alone any cold vegan cheese. It was delicious nonetheless though, and I got to take home the vegan leftovers!

My aunt asked Lauren and I to take pictures at the party and we didn't have any issues doing that. Our only conundrum was that we were afraid the other parents (who we didn't know) would be freaked out over us snapping pictures of their little kids. So Lauren and I did the best we could without looking like creepers. Lauren even managed to snap my family's belated Christmas card photo, as someone was pretty insistent to get this done in front of a dinosaur statue.

At the end of the party everyone sang happy birthday to Abby. It reminded me of having birthday parties with my classmates when I was in elementary school and trying so hard to act nonchalant, hiding the huge grin on my face as people were singing to me. I feel so old now!

I'm pretty sure Abby had fun at her party, and I'm glad Lauren (and Lauren's family) are basically like a branch of me which makes them practically family too. So I'm happy my bestie and I got to spend this Friday evening together acting as photographers at my cousin's birthday party.

Resolution Run 10 Miler

 Towards the beginning of December, Lauren, Leti, and I registered for a ten mile trail race on New Year's Day. Leti was about to start running Ultras again, and she figured this would be a good way to get back into trail running. So, Lauren and I decided to join her. I need to get back into running too and start marathon training(!), so what better way to do that than by getting a few miles in to start the year off right?

I hadn't run this far since September, and throughout November and December I wasn't running consistently. I knew this race wouldn't be my fastest, but I figured I would get a lot of "training" runs in during the three weeks prior since I'd be back in sunny California. I wasn't worried at all about the fact that I haven't even run trails since August.

Although I'm not even close to being some elite athlete nor do I even come close to placing in my age division, fueling and hydrating are super important components to longer distance running for everyone, especially if you're going to be out on the course longer than the race leaders. Since I hadn't been seriously running for about half of a year, my intuition regarding race prep was completely lost. I didn't even bother to carb-load two nights before the race (easily one of my favorite things to do), and the night before the race (New Year's Eve) I stuffed myself with nachos. Because I moved to Philadelphia, obviously all of my stuff is on the East Coast too. I didn't pack any gels or blocks to eat while running, and while getting my gear ready for race day, I honestly didn't feel that it was important.

I arrived to the Auburn Overlook, clad in cold weather running gear (because I'll always be cold on either coast in the winter), and my handheld water bottle in tow. I waved eagerly to my sister and dad (thanks for braving the cold and being awesome cheerleaders!) as I ran past them at the start line and onward to the trails. My plan was to stick with Lauren and Leti the entire race so that we would all get through the torturous ten miles together. I was hoping to finish in under two hours, but since none of us had really been running at all, I knew that time goal was a big stretch.

The first two miles of the race were completely downhill and it felt great. My favorite part of trail running are the downhills; I feel like I'm flying down them, which I know really helps my overall pace. For these first two miles, the three of us stuck with the majority of the other SacFit runners. Then around mile 2.5 we encountered our first hill.

When we joined Ultras a year ago, we were taught to run the flats and downhill, but walk up the hills. That trick got me through 50 miles, so of course I was going to use the same strategy for this race. Not to get all Miley-ish, but that first hill came in like a wrecking ball. My legs are definitely not used to climbing like they used to be. Thankfully it wasn't a super steep hill, so I pushed through it.

By mile 4 our few SacFit buddies were pretty much separated from one another throughout the course. Leti, Lauren, and I were still running together and I still felt pretty good. Because I'm used to flying down the hills uninhibited, it was really hard on my shins to "brake" while running in order to pace myself.

Mile 6 was the beginning of an out and back loop, concluding with mile 8.5. These were probably the hardest miles for me, mentally. Physically though, this part of the course was mainly flat and slightly downhill, so it shouldn't have been too hard. However, this section was also very shady from the vast amount of trees and so I was pretty cold. That, coupled with the fact that I had been running for over an hour without refueling, made me not want to be there. If I would've fueled properly during the race, this portion would've been a lot easier for me.

Right around the time we reached mile 9 we came to face to face with a pretty large hill. I can't speak for the others, but I was just done at this point. I wanted to be back home, in the hot shower consuming hot, delicious food. I just wanted to finish this last mile and cross that finish line. I hiked up that hill as strongly as I could. When I'm having a tough time climbing a hill I find it mentally much easier to look down at my feet the whole time. This way I can't see how far I have left and I won't be able to look at the true elevation gains. This worked out perfectly. I reached the top of the hill with just half of a mile left.

With just half of a mile remaining, Leti was having a tougher time than Lauren and me. I think she was getting irritated that we kept pushing her and telling her to run, so she urged us to run on ahead and finish. One of our running buddies caught up with Leti, so I didn't feel so bad leaving her.

By the time we finished the announcer had already left. I wasn't really bothered or upset by this, but it is pretty funny. Marissa and my dad were there to watch us cross the finish line. Leti finished about five minutes after us. I walked as fast as I could to the food table and stocked up on oranges, blueberry bagel pieces, and a warm bowl of veggie minestrone soup. Everything tasted so good and it was just what I needed.

My official finish time was 2:22:51.2 which I feel okay with. I feel like I could've gone faster, and it's not that close to my goal (which I realize was kind of out of reach). But for not having run trails for half a year, I'm just glad I made myself go out and do it. I know I should've prepared for the race a lot better than I did, and I need to fuel a lot better during longer runs.

This is probably my only "fun" race for 2015. I decided that this year, I want to run less races but more important ones. Since I don't have the pleasure and ease of participating in the weekly SacFit runs this year, I know it's up to just me to hold myself accountable. I've come a long way in 2014; whoever thought that I could be an ultra runner? While I definitely don't currently have the endurance or strength to do that again right now, I also don't want to lose the fitness that I have gained this past year. Lauren and I came up with our small race calendar for 2015. I don't see any ultra races in my immediate future, but I do hope to PR in a few distances!

01.15 Goals

In an effort to be more productive and accomplish my goals during my 24th year of life, I've decided to post a "to-do list" of sorts at the beginning of each month. At the end of the month I'll go back over my list and talk about what I was able to conquer and note the tasks I have yet to tackle.

1. Complete Summer Sampler blocks 16-20.
2. Read a book.
3. Use my new kitchen gadgets.
4. Stick to a running schedule.
5. Sew something for myself.
6. Go somewhere new to me.
7. Take lots of pictures, with people in them.
8. Start a 2014 scrapbook.
9. Go to the farmers' market.
10. Stretch and go to yoga more often.

Cheers to January, and 2015!

Best Friend Friday No. 10

Last Friday was so different from most, in a good way.

Lauren and I struggled walking half a dozen blocks to the subway station, hopping on the thankfully pretty empty subway, and squeezing in with all of our luggage on another train which was not an easy task. Who actually packs light? It was all worth it though. We ended up at the Philadelphia airport, super excited to be going home to California for a few weeks, but probably even more ecstatic to be able dump the majority of our bags off at the check in desk.

Seriously though, we vowed to take a taxi upon our arrival back to Philadelphia regardless of how much money we would otherwise save.

Our first leg of the trip took us from Philadelphia to Phoenix where we were supposed to have a two hour layover. The weather was perfectly clear (from our perspective), but sadly Las Vegas was having weather issues and that's where our connecting flight was coming from. This caused our connection to be delayed by at least two more hours. This couldn't have come at a worse time. Lauren and I were so excited to be coming home to see our families, but even more importantly my stomach was already grumbling for the delicious Chinese food I was planning on indulging in at Mayflower upon arriving in Sacramento. We had been planning this dinner for over a month and I was going to be devastated if the restaurant closed before we got there. First world problems, I know.

After rearranging my ride home (my dad had to also pick up my brother from college) and checking Mayflower's hours, my hope was restored. Lauren and I were sitting at a different gate because our actual gate was flooded with people, so we almost missed our flight (once it finally made its appearance)! Thankfully Lauren realized that our flight was already boarding, and we rushed over just in time to still board with the group A passengers!

Lauren loves the window seat and I'll sit in any seat BUT the aisle seat, so that means I always get a middle seat so Lauren and I can sit next to each other. Randomly (perhaps), one of my brother's good friends from elementary school ended up sitting next to me from Phoenix to Sacramento...what are the chances? Once we landed in Sacramento, I spotted one of our SacFit running buddies waiting at the airport. His daughter was also on the same Phoenix flight as us. So weird!

Leti and Dan picked us up from the airport and immediately drove us to Mayflower! I skipped lunch so that I would be super hungry and stuff myself with chow fun and tofu. We met my brother Frank, my uncle Norman, and Lauren's dad at the restaurant. My dad also showed up later. My family has been going to Mayflower for as long as I can remember, so much so that the owners know us and the waiters know our usual orders. I was about to place my order, and the waiter stopped me and said, "Let me guess, you want the vegetarian food?". Spot on!

After sharing lots of East Coast stories and eating my weight in the most delicious Chinese food in the world, we headed to our respective homes.

This was seriously one of the best Fridays in a really long time.


*I've been pretty absent from blogging lately, due to being home for the holidays. So, my "Best Friend Friday" posts are really backlogged but I hope to catch up on the past few weeks soon!

12.14 Goals Roundup

I spent the majority of December back home in Sacramento, which meant I spent a lot of time hanging out with my family. Consequently, I didn't complete many tasks on my December goals list which I'm so completely fine with. Family time trumps pretty much anything. So, even though I didn't get to cross many things off of my goals list, I'm perfectly content with how I spent my time throughout the month.

Even though I already gave away how "little" I did in December, I'll still go ahead and talk about list.

1. Make some type of scrapbook: I was really hoping to document my short trip home somehow. I wanted to incorporate lots of pictures and souvenirs from the holidays, but sadly I really didn't take that many pictures. I failed at scrapbooking this month, but I still plan on creating some sort of smallish photo-filled book to reminisce my entire 2014.

2. Read two books: The past few months my goal has been to read just one book per month, and I didn't really have any issues completing that. So I thought I'd up my game for December and challenge myself to read two books. Because I chose to spend my free time visiting family and doing family related activities (which I don't regret at all), I only read one book. I ordered "The Chocolate Money" from Amazon before leaving Philadelphia, with the intention of reading the majority of it on the plane to Sacramento. Well that obviously didn't happen. I didn't even start the book till my second week home. However, it was a pretty fast read and I finished it in about two days. I already had a second book to read, but I never started it. I should probably just stick to trying to read one book per month. I did buy a Kindle though, so I'll have to try purchasing/borrowing books on my new device!

3. Run at least 50 miles: I was so certain this would be an easily attainable goal. I packed tons of running clothes, thinking I would love the warmer California weather and want to run all the time. For the past month or so though I've been dealing with some hip pain, most likely due to trochanteric bursitis, which has made running a lot more painful. Needless to say, I didn't complete this goal and only ran 21.2 miles in December. But let's be real here, even if my hip wasn't bothering me, I probably still wouldn't have got 50 miles in. No excuses over here!

4. Finish gifting all of the Christmas presents ON TIME: This was a big one on my list and something that was super important to me. Normally, I find myself promising family members/Lauren that I'll finish their gift(s) soon and I don't have anything to give them on the actual Christmas day (or anywhere near Christmas, to be honest). I'm almost completely caught up on gifts I owe people (I still owe Lauren a birthday cowl!), so I really didn't want to dig myself deeper into the hole of no return. I'm so happy to announce that I successfully gifted everyone their presents on time, and several of them were handmade!

5. Complete Summer Sampler blocks 16-20: I didn't even work on my Summer Sampler this month, but that's not to say I haven't cross stitched. I started working on something new, which I hope to have finished by Marissa's birthday.

6. Run one  mile in under 8 minutes: I completely forgot about this challenge until January 1 when my brother reminded me that we never had our one mile race. It's very likely that he could easily beat me, but there's also a good chance that I actually can run a single mile in under 8 minutes. This will happen sometime!

7. Clean up and organize my room at my parents' house: I cleaned up my room a little bit. But then I realized that my room at home is never going to be truly cleaned and organized for two main reasons. First, since I'm not living there anymore, my room has kind of become a storage room for my mom. She likes to store her excess skeins of yarn and the family's DVD collection in my room. Secondly, my room isn't that big and I have so much furniture loaded in my tiny space that the entire perimeter of my room is made up of various pieces of furniture. All of the furniture is being used (mainly for storage for me), so I can't really get rid of any of it. There's not much room to move anything around, so I don't see this space getting any cleaner or more organized than it is now.

8. Ride my bike: Currently my bike is residing at Lauren's mom's house in Roseville. I was hoping to somehow ride my bike from her house to my parents' house, but the routes I came up with all involved riding my bike on the freeway which really didn't seem like a good idea at all.

9. Craft something that I pinned: I made myself, Marissa, Heather, and mom marbled clay ring dishes from A Beautiful Mess as part of their Christmas presents. Lauren and I had tons of fun pairing different colors and coming up with some pretty unique pieces. We also made beads with the leftover marbled clay.

10. Try a new recipe: I thought for sure I'd be able to easily fit this goal into my holiday cooking somehow. But as it turned out, I made my Christmas menu pretty much exactly the same as my Thanksgiving meal, so no new recipes were needed. I did receive a food processor and a Ninja chopper for Christmas so I'm pretty certain I'll be trying lots of new recipes in 2015.

Score for December: 2 out of 10