11-8-2011

Nicole is down to eat way weirder stuff than I am, but I'm down to eat way more. To the point that our visit to an all you can eat buffet has left me in more physical pain than our half marathon. Taking a few days off from running is mandatory after a big race, but I had better start again soon or I won't be able to even walk if I keep eating like this.

11-7-2011

So this is a really cool story. The other day, a coworker and I were talking about old cameras and film and stuff since I'm a nerd and those are the kinds of things that I like talking about. Well, he told me about someone he knew in the 80's who bought a house, and found a box full of medium format and 35mm film. The film was exposed but undevolped and dated as far back as the 50's. Out of curiosity, my coworker had some of the black and white rolls developed. The pictures ended up being super awesome, cheesecakey pinups and nudes from what looks like the late 50's to early 70's. On top of being cool just because they're old, they're really well shot photos. I'm assuming they came out of the kind of vintage Hasselblad or Rolleiflexes I'm always hunting for judging by the image clarity. I don't think I'm allowed to post the scans on this blog 'cause there are boobies, but they're seriously by far the most awesome thing I've seen that someone found in the basement of an old house. It's kind of crazy to think of the grandmas out there that would totally trip out if they were reintroduced to these photos from their glory days.

I'm changing my mind and posting one of the scans here because it's super artsy and cool, plus you can't really see any "objectionable" bits. I'm totally obsessed with these pictures.

11-6-2011

So apparently Baby Lily reads my blog, because she specifically requested to go to the brunch I posted about on 10-2-11. She considers herself a bit of an expert on chicken and waffles, and really wanted to try these ones. She then proceeded to demonstrate various traditional techniques for eating the strange combination of foods. First with a fork (above), then the more advanced Waffle Taco Method, and finally eating like a hungry puppy (this maneuver is for experts only and should probably not be attempted in public by anyone over the age of two. This blog claims no responsibility if the photos inspire you to mimic a baby). For all her enthusiasm, Baby Lily forgot that she doesn't like hot sauce and then demonstrated how to wipe flavors you don't like off of your tongue using the palm of your hand.

After brunch it was goodbye hugs and the end of a very incredible weekend. Well, not really quite the end, but nothing that we did today is quite as interesting after Baby Lily drove home. We already miss that baby.

11-5-2011

Well, after a month and a half of solid (really hard) training, the big day is finally here. Determined to get one of these or leave in one of these. It was a super hard race and the finish was a close one, but I managed to edge out Baby Lily in the end, but just by a hair.

Since I survived the hardest race of my life, I decided to go ahead start some other race with Nicole. I really shouldn't belittle this, because it really was a pretty big deal. Nicole and I finished our very first half marathons. I want to make sure the readership of this blog really understands how surprised I am that we did this, so here's a crop that better explains my feelings while I was crossing the finish line. That little blonde girl sitting in her pink chair may be judging me, but the people handing out medals actually said that I was the happiest person to finish yet.

Nicole's finish was a bit more dramatic and came down to a showdown at the end after the girl next to her was stupid enough to elbow her in the last ten feet. These crops make me laugh every time I look at Nicole's battle face when someone is foolish enough to spur on her competitive side.

But after everything, it was all smiles and Nicole and I were both really happy with our times and medals. Baby Lily didn't really have a time, and wasn't too sure about her medal.

The following pictures are pretty graphic, so fair warning if you get grossed out by gross stuff. Nicole and I have undoubtedly developed (ugly) runner's feet. I think there's a weird mentality in running that you earn nasty blisters and disfigured toenails are a badge of honor. I just know that blisters hurt and that safety pins have more uses than just keeping your number pinned to your shirt.

Cups also have other uses. Like this cup that's actually my Age Group 3rd Place Finish trophy! Can you believe I actually won something that's physically oriented and doesn't involve being an art nerd and coloring?!

After the race, we waited forever for dinner. While waiting, I realized that regardless of age, (even half) Asian people can always bond over electronics and technology.

If you have Queen in your iTunes, start playing We Are The Champions now...
I'm honestly really amazed and ecstatic that all of our training paid off and we had such a great experience. I keep telling myself that we can't get too used to coming home with things after all of our races, but our fireplace mantle has some new residents. I know that this was for Third place at a local half marathon, but I feel like I just won the Olympics.

11-4-2011

One of my favorite things to do is to play tour guide for people visiting Cleveland. I think there are a lot of interesting things here that are really slept on by locals, and super fun for out of towners. Although incredibly well traveled for a baby (actually she's better traveled than a lot of adults I know), Baby Lily hasn't been exposed to a lot of Cleveland stuff. So continuing our preparatory quest for carbs, I invited her to Sokolowskis for perogi. I'll let you watch all the Food Network clips on YouTube if you don't already know about the place, but suffice to say, the food tastes about a million times better than it looks. Baby Lily is a bit of a drinker, so after dinner I took her to buy a case of another Cleveland thing that people go nuts over. Big things are happening tomorrow, so I'm going to go soak my legs in the tub now while Baby Lily finishes up the last of her 24 pack.

11-3-2011

Look who's in town to run the big race! In preparation, she made sure to carb up on pasta and taunt me for being slow. I sure hope that I don't get beaten by a baby this weekend.

11-2-2011

Apparently I have a new officemate at work. I'm not too sure I like him being here though. Hopefully he just works the night shift.

11-1-2011

Nicole and I are crazy cat ladies.

10-31-2011

Halloween antics. We went to costume karaoke to have dinner and laugh at people.

10-30-2011

That's definitely a black cat crossing our path the day before Halloween. If this is the last post I write, you'll know why.

The weather was really nice today, so after brunch we decided to spend the day outside. We didn't go fishing though. We went traipsing around a park to look at the Fall leaves fall.

10-29-2011

It's hard to see, but this car says "Money Over Evry Thng" on it. And has fuzzy dice. For real.

10-28-2011

I don't always post everything I do on here, but sometimes I end up in places like this to do fun stuff.

10-27-2011

We ventured out into the ominous night in search of Redbox and Blue Box. But what did they do to the box?! I want my orange dinosaur back.

10-26-2011

On 4-11-11, I reluctantly bought a silly "running armband" for my phone so I could track my mileage. The band isn't any less silly, but a little over six months later, I've worn said band and logged over 500 miles. I'm aware that there are people that do this amount of distance every few weeks, but this is a big deal for me. Besides, even Nike deems the achievement t-shirt worthy and I got a canned message from Paula Radcliffe to celebrate!