Goodbye 2013

I can't believe another year has already come to a close. It feels like just yesterday that December started and I was looking forward to heading home for the holidays. Between Santa Con, birthdays, celebrating the holidays at work and a fun ugly holiday sweater party at my friend Greg's house, I stumbled upon the last day of work.

Finally I made it to sunny California to spend the holidays at home with family and to catch up with friends I haven't seen in over a year. I lucked out and had goregous 70-80 degree weather all week, got to spend time in Big Bear as well as run many errands I needed to finish before year's end. Check out some photos!

I also finally got to spend some time with my best friend Raquel who is 5 months pregnant! It's crazy to think last time I saw her she had just gotten married and had moved. Time flies when you are away so long. But she is glowing and excited for Liliana to make her way into this world. I can't wait to meet baby Borrayo!

And with that, December 2013 is almost over. Here's to 2014 and all that is in store for me personally, professionally and emotionally.

Where Has the Time Gone?

I can't believe it is already the end of November and another Thanksgiving is shortly upon me. This time last year we were picking up the pieces from Hurricane Sandy, my cousin got married and I was seeing the Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time live.

Since I last posted, my days have been filled with school, birthdays, cornhole league, another race, work and various other random days that fill my days.

My November race was the Running Festival of Lights/ Chanukkah Gelt 5K in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. It was a cold and windy morning to begin with, but running along the water multiplied that by 5. As I stood there with Josh and Michelle, I began to really contemplate my insanity for doing this race. But as I reminded myself I committed to this New Years resolution of a completing a race a month and was determined to finish whether I ended up running it or not. Overall, I managed to run it at a slower pace due to asthma kicking in but managed to still complete the run under 40 minutes with a gorgeous view of the Verazzano Bridge.

Cornhole was blast playing with Janssen, Nicki and my friend Stan from Zog kickball. Even with it being a small division, we managed to have fun, make friends and win bar champs!

Can't believe it's December in two days, with Thanksgiving being so late this year everything seems to be going by a lot faster. With the last month of the year upon me, I can't believe what 2013 has brought me. Stay tuned for my last race for 2013, the Placerita Canyon Holiday 5K at the Master's College in Santa Clarita California. I am so happy to be ending my new years resolution how I started it, by running a race with my sister.

October-ness

So as I had mentioned previously, I decided to run the Rock 'n' Roll Prospect Park 10K as my race for October. Between making sure my new roommate moved in succesfully, setting up new bills and my best friend Mandy coming to visit, I felt like I didn't have a ton of time to run before the race.

She's here!

Mandy came to visit for 5 days between work and my new roommate moving in. It was a crazy week leading up to her visit but I was so excited to see her here in NYC. We filled her visit here with eating, a beer garden visit, Oktoberfest at Bear Mountatin (Circle Line cruise included!), kickball, cheering on the 49ers and her birthday celebration. Hope you had a blast Mandy!

Oktoberfest with Mandy, Kevin and Janssen

After Mandy left it felt like the week flew by and before I knew it, it was race day! With a early wake up call to make the hour trek to Prospect Park, the nerves didn't set in until my bag was checked and Michelle, Janssen and I headed to our corrals. As I told them, "I'll meet you at the end, I want to finish standing strong and to run continously.. and if I make it under an hour and a half I'll be happy too." 

Pre-race... when the nerves set in.

And we were off! Having never run Prospect Park before, Janssen told me there would be some slight hills that would be tough without having run them before. I felt good and knew that possibly I would see Michelle's husband Josh sometime after the 5K mark. Nearing the 5K mark I didn't see Josh but realized he'd probably gone ahead to cheer her on. As the first exhaustion wave set in I keep reminding myself that I have gotten farther than many people who've not gotten up off the couch and run. With that and the determination to run straight through I forged ahead. As I neared the 6 mile marker I started see people who had finished the race walk by with their medals and smiles on their faces... with that I knew I had to finish strong. AND I DID :) 1 hour and 27mins later, I completed my first (and probably last) 10K!

I had to get a photo with the back drop and my medal.

San Francisco

This past weekend I went to San Francisco for Megan & Gordon's wedding at the Piedmont Community Center near Oakland. I was so thrilled to be invited for such a special event, thanks Megan! After landing, spending time with sorority sisters and picking up the wedding present, I was ready for Saturday nights festivities. It was such a blast to spend it with sorority sisters who I have seen recently and those I haven't (good to see you Megan Weber!). Here's a few highlights!

After coming back from San Francisco it was already October, crazy how time is flying this year. This week itself has been crazy with cleaning my apartment so my new roommate could move in and for when Mandy comes tonight. I'm so excited to see her and catch up on life. Also excited for the Oktoberfest event on Saturday taking the Cicle Line up the Hudson to Bear Mountain Park and all the other things we plan to do while she is here. Lets hope I can squeeze in more times to run before the 10k next Saturday!

Running Update

“The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” - John Bingham

With some much needed words of encouragement from friends who are running the Rock 'n' Roll New York 10k in Prospect Park, Brooklyn on October 12th. Eeek! I decided to do this run as part of my goal to run a race every month this year. As the date gets closer and closer I am going to do my best with the time I have to run/prepare for this as much as I can. I just started school this week, two nights at week and therefore cuts down the time I have to run. 

Race route

Goal: To complete this run; not for time but just to say I finished. Finished with that sense of accomplishment (and not to mention a shiny medal). When I completed the registration form I put 1 hour 30 minutes as a rough estimate of when I think I would finish based upon previous 5k times. We will see how this goes, wish me luck!

Update: I plan to now do 13 races for 2013 but instead of running #13 I plan to volunteer for a race to give back. Race #10 is the 10k in Prospect park, race #11 will most likely be the race I volunteer for (eyeing either the Brooklyn Marathon or the Festival of Lights 5k/10k in Bay Ridge), and race #12 is the Flushing Meadows 5k the weekend before Thanksgiving. Race #13 is hopefully going to be a race with my sister while I am home for Christmas since I thought it would be awesome to start and end the year by running a race with my sister. We will see how things go!

1 Year Later... The Color Run

Feel good. Be happy. Run faster.

1 year later and I'm back at Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn with my friend Kerri ready to run The Color Run. After an early morning rise to meet Kerri at Atlantic Terminal to be at Brooklyn College by 7:30am to catch the shuttle to the complex. When we arrived at the complex I was surprised yet happy to see a few changes from the previous year. 1) They moved the stage to the back of the area reserved for the run which helped stream line the flow of things. 2) That being said, the bag check area was moved towards the exit of the area and was a definite upgrade. They had scanned bar coded tags for each bag and required the runner to give a phone number to match with the photo they also took for record keeping. 3) There were more vendors this year (one of my favorite - Kind Bars). Two negatives I would say about this year: 1) They didn't have lawn blowers to blow off any excess color dust. This helped tremendously the previous year and 2) Occasionally they squirted color water into the post-race color throwing party crowd. Great idea for it being warm but didn't exactly dry quickly before getting back onto the shuttle.

Race #9 for the year :)

As for the race itself, it was the same layout as the previous year although they shifted the start and finish lines so you ended up running through the finish line right into the festival area. Kerri and I made a plan to try to run the race straight through as we didn't feel the need to stop and take pictures after each color zone since we had done it before. The color zones were better equipped this year with more volunteers, music at each zone and huge arches designating the color. 

With a happy feeling inside, Kerri and I finished the race straight through with no stops for pictures or anything and I felt GREAT. After a couple pictures at the finish line, we made our way to check out the post-race festival. There was coconut water (found out I'm not a fan), Kind Bars (yum!), Color Run gear and this year even food and beer for sale. We managed to gather at the stage for a color toss with the free packets of color we received with our registration and managed to fit with Kerri's waist pack. Dancing, color throwing, and singing among the fellow runners, we had a blast for a couple hours until we were too exhausted and hungry to enjoy anymore. Disappointed we didn't see the lawn blowers out, we dusted off as much color as we could, grabbed our bags to head home.

Goodbye August, Hello September

I can't believe summer is basically over, August went by in the blink of an eye. Starting off the month on a fun note with the mud run, I was excited for the rest of the month's activities I had planned. Made it to a few baseball games, went white water rafting, checked out the MTA Museum in Brooklyn, went to the NY Cosmos game, tons of birthday celebrations and brunches. Here is a few snapshots that was August.
 

Suprise birthday for Kara :)

I can't wait for what September has in store for me. The Color Run is this weekend, my 9th race for the year. Also looking forward to more birthday celebrations, a trip to San Francisco to celebrate a wedding of one of my closest sorority sisters and starting school (finally). Keep you posted on my adventures!



MTA Musem - Old Subway Car



Mud, Smiles, Cheers, Laughter and Scars

Mud, Smiles, Cheers, Laughter and Scars... the 5 words to describe the 5k I participated in this weekend. The Dirty Girl Mud Run is a 5k mixed with mud and obstacles along the way. Proceeds benefit breast cancer and research. I saw my sister post about this awhile back and decided to post about it via my Facebook page to see if I could gather any interest from my friends to join me. In the end Elina, Christina and Rebekah (kickball friends) joined me in the awesomeness!

Obstacles they posted about on their website 

Saturday after I picked up my ZipCar (by the way awesome!), I headed into the city and down 2nd Ave to pick up the ladies. After a quick hour drive we made it to Englishtown Race Track for the race. With an hour to spare, we spent time checking in, taking photos, writing our team name on our arms, browsing stuff for sale and just getting in the spirit of the run.

Team Rainbow Warriors

Pre-race

Although we were in the biggest wave of the morning, we managed to get near the front and stay ahead of the pack. Despite the advertisement of obstacles on their website, our race didn't have the exact same ones:

1. Knee high mud pit

2. Bungee maze

3. Tires

4. Mud pit with fence to crawl under

5. Rope fence to crab crawl across (about 5 feet high)

6. Small wall to climb

7. Balance beam logs

8. High jump logs that got higher off the ground

9. Mud pit with tubes to crawl in between

10. Water pit - chest high

11. Small hill to climb

12. Natural mud pits through the trees/forest

13. V ramp to climb then under a fence

14. Ladder rope climb

15. High wall to climb

16. Race ended with a mud pit! :D

Post-race with our numbers & free beer :D

To summarize - an AWESOME time with some amazing women. Despite the bit of rain, the weather held up nicely. After the water pit, most runners were a bit cleaner than they had gotten so the 4 of us made a pact to get back to being dirtier by holding hands as we ended/got into the last mud pit and dived in.

Muddy, dirty, happy and feeling accomplished.

After a stop for lunch and a u-turn (twice) to get Blizzards from Dairy Queen (of course since not in NYC) we headed back to the city to relax and get ready before a friend's patio party.

Muddy & smiling with Elina

Goodbye July, Helloooo August

Goodbye July, hellloo August! I can't believe summer is already half way over, where has the time gone? Can't wait for August to start as there a so many fun things planned. 5k #8 is this weekend, the Dirty Girl Mud Run with Christina, Rebekah and Elina. I'm excited to participate in a mud run and to support a great cause while doing so. Even though it is a bit of a journey to get to the course in Englishtown, I'm ready for a great day full of mud, music, bonding and laughter. Stayed tunned for pictures! In addition, restuarant week dinners, happy hours I have plans to go white water rafting, more baseball games, a weekend with my dad that includes a New York Cosmo's soccer game, and most likely sporatic other events that come my way.

July is Jogging Along.. Well More Like Running

July has been jogging along and I can't believe it is already half over. 4th of July weekend went by in the blink of an eye despite being a 4 day weekend. Kicked off celebrating my trivia friend Beth's birthday on a rooftop since it was so humid out. Last minute plans with friends, I ended up at the 4th of July Mets game during the day. It was such a blast an always a great way to celebrate America. After the game and a much needed shower, I went to watch the Macy's Fireworks show on my friend Tiffany's rooftop. Tiffany lives near Herald Square and has an amazing view of the Empire State Building and of the west side to see the fireworks. Drinks, friends and food were the perfect combination to end the night. Tom had his annual 4th of July party on his rooftop Friday which was a blast since we were actually able to go out on the roof deck this time. The weekend ended with a beach trip Saturday, brunch and Pride celebrations on Sunday. I even managed to meet up with Kyna, a sorority sister I was a pledge mom for and haven't seen since we graduated together. Good to see you Kyna!

Since the 4th of July weekend things have been busy between work and other get togethers, dinners, etc. with friends. Last weekend I was thrilled to take part in the Phi Sigma Sigma Run.Walk.Dance 5k to donate funds to the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation in honor of a national board member who passed away. This was a part of the 4 day Centennial celebration that was held here in New York City, Happy 100th Birthday Phi Sigma Sigma! I was able to partake in an affordable part of the weekend and was lucky to see my grand-big who is the president of the Bay Area Alumnae Chapter. After the event, we decided to make the most of my day off and be touristy together. We left Roosevelt Island where the race was, walked the Brooklyn Bridge (yay bucket list item) and ate lunch at Katz's Deli since she had never been. The day ended with happy hour on Wall Street with some of my favorite kickball ladies and their friends. Nice to have meet you Megan!

After errands on Saturday, I proceeded to check another bucket item off my list by watching a movie in the park with Ann Marie. I was back at Roosevelt Island where she lives and we grabbed pizza/beers and had a blast watching Pitch Perfect with a view of the Upper East Side. It has been a quick yet fun July and a humid one but can't wait for what the rest of the summer has in store (Dirty Girl Mud Run, white water rafting, my dad visiting, endless meals out, 5k #8 and so much more). Stay tuned for updates!

Dear Monday / Happy July!

Dear Monday, as usual you came way too fast... can't believe it is already July.

Dear Monique, had a blast celebrating your going away. I will miss you but definitely come visit you.

Dear Janssen, thanks for the impromptu fun day after watching Despicable Me 2 on Saturday. Go see the movie!

Dear sister and cousin, congratulations on your new jobs. Wishing you the best of luck from the east coast to the west coast.

Dear weekend, I had a blast celebrating Pride and brunch with Christina, Tiffany and Christina's mom... great way to end June.

Dear Dirty Girl Mud Run, 33 days until some fun in the sun and mud with Christina, Rebekah and Elina. I'm ready for you!

Dear Phi Sig 5K, I can't wait to see my great grandbig and celebrate Phi Sigma Sigma's Centennial in the birthplace, NYC <3

Dear this week, I can't wait to celebrate Beth's birthday, 4th of July and hit the beach to kick off July on a high note.

Running Re-Cap: Half Way Mark

So as I posted in the New Year, one of my New Years Resolutions is to run a 5K every month for the year minimum. I've managed to complete 5K's or 4-milers these past 6 months and feeling great about them. I would say it's been a bit of a roller coaster of a time but after every run I think back and go "well accomplishing that makes me feel great".

Favorite run so far overall: Hot Chocolate 5K

Best personal time: Roosevelt Island Spring Fling

Most orgainzed race: I would have to say NYRR races overall as they have gotten orgainzation down pat between packet pickup and race day.

Best post-race: Giants Run of Champions was awesome since it tied in with the Health & Fitness Fair afterwards.

Best goodie bag/post race offerings: Hot Chocolate 5K, umm hello chocolate and other treats to dip into the chocolate :)

Favorite shirt: Giants Run of Champions shirt because it fit best and was not just a cotton t-shirt.

Least favorite race: Although my personal PR was set that day, the Roosevelt Island Spring Fling race was my least favorite due to lack of organization and running by myself for the first time.

Dear Monday

Dear Monday, you actually didn't come as quickly as I thought and I'm happy about that.

Dear Bryant Park Grill, glad to be able to check you out for the first time tonight.

Dear phone, glad I was able to fix you for free... again thanks to the Apple store. Thanks Rachel!

Dear sister, good luck on your interview today! Sending you positivie thoughts from across the country.

Dear summer, I'm loving the weather you bring. I am enjoying being able to not wear sweaters at night.

Dear weekend, although not as busy as I thought it would be I had a blast enjoying Brooklyn, the Boat Basin and catching up on things at home.

Dear this coming weekend, I'm excited to go swimming and intrigued to see how the Giants 5K run will go Sunday.

Mr. & Mrs. Herman

Most of the trivia gang guests.

This past weekend I went up to Ithaca for the wedding of two friends, Josh and Michelle, I met through trivia. What I wonderful weekend it was catching up with everyone as well as wine tasting, hiking, and of course celebrating the marriage of two amazing people. This is a photo post, enjoy! 


With my friend Kevin "looking money" as he says

Hiking at Buttermilk Falls



Catching Up on Life's Adventures

I haven't blogged about my life's adventures in the past few weeks, well because I've been busy having adventures! First off, Happy Memorial Day and many thanks to those serving to protect our country and give us the freedom we have.

After coming back from a whirlwind weekend in Sacramento and San Francisco, I was flooded with work, kickball craziness, brunches and birthdays. Mother's Day weekend I enjoyed the first weekend back in New York I had. Spent Saturday at brunch at Pop Over Cafe and running errands/shopping. Sunday morning, I ran my race for May the Japan Day 4M Race in Central Park with Elina, Sandy and Christina. Despite not feeling 100% I only was 6 seconds behind from my first 4M race in Central Park. I was thrilled to be honest, especially without having as much time to run to prep for this race.

Another spur of the moment (< 2 weeks planned) trip was to Harrisburg, PA to visit my friend Allie Schuh. Funny story, Allie and I met in our freshman year English class at SFSU although come to find out we are from the same home town (woo Chino!). She didn't go to either Chino high school as her mother worked at a neighboring city high school. Harrisburg was a nice relaxing get away from the crazy city life with a local art show, visiting Lancaster and enjoying some down time catching up with Allie. I was thrilled to go back to the city as I have gotten used to being busy, as many of my friends know, I'm not a homebody/small town type of girl.


Allie & I in Harrisburg

Post-Harrisburg weekend, I helped in an audit at work all week which was a nice change to sitting in a cubicle all day. The week flew by in the blink of an eye and it was Memorial Day weekend and the last weekend of May. Tom had his annual rooftop Memorial Day party which was a blast catching up with friends I haven't seen in months, some almost a year (good to see you Ben!). The rest of the weekend was filled with brunches, shopping (frustratingly I might add) for a wedding dress for my friends Michelle and Josh's wedding this weekend in Ithaca and spending time in the beautiful outdoors at Central Park and Astoria Park.

Celebrating America and Memorial Day with Ann Marie & Ben

The weekend was so much fun and I can't believe it is already Tuesday again although it certainly still feels like a Monday. I'm ready to take a little road trip to Ithaca to see two of my favorite people get married and also celebrate my birthday next week.

25 Things to Do Before I am 25.... An Update

25 Things to Do Before I am 25 (I've decided to give my self until the end of my 25th year to complete this list and possibly add on)

So I have decided to make a list of 25 things to do before I am 25. This is combination list of general life things and things in New York City.

1. Travel to a new state/country - after all the traveling I did last year I didn't adventure to a new state/country. I have made it to South Carolina, Georiga, Delaware, Virgina and Washington DC.
2. Go to a (on) Broadway show - every one who lives in New York should go to a show. Almost two years later, I still haven't.
3. Try something new. I have tried both yoga and pilates for the first time thanks to a Living Social deal.
4. Donate blood - I have donated once in college and the blood donation woman encouraged I donate often because I give blood easily.
5. Visit my long distance friends in San Francisco/Bay Area - this hasn't happened since I was still living in Southern California and I missed them so much. Went the first weekend of May!
6. Read a classic novel - ideally I want to read at least 2 classics.
7. Go one month without drinking beer - enough said. I gave up beer for lent.
8. Decorate my apartment - my first apartment was not decorated and my current roommate has done a great job of decorating my current place. I have added photos of my friends and family. I want to add art soon.
9. Pick up a hobby - I plan to make this a hobby I used to do, cross stiching.
10. Have a FUN all nighter - enough said. Dinner and Planet Rose Bar too fun until 6am.
11. Learn to make cake pops - they are a new craze that I want to learn how to make.
12. Visit the Bronx Zoo - everyone says it's a must in New York, but when the weather is warmer. I went to the zoo finally in April.
13. Go wine tasting - I am not a huge fan of wine and have never gone so let's do this!
14. Pay off debt - debt is always a personal problem but it will be accomplished. DONE!
15. Visit the site of the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadow Park
16. Go ice skating in New York City - Rockefeller Rink would be awesome.
17. Visit Top of the Rock - it's practically where I work.
18. Go sledding - when there is enough snow of course. Went to NYCSSC's snow day and had a blast.
19. Go to the Hamptons - I hear it's goregous.
20. Attend a NBA game in NYC - there are two teams, this shouldn't be a challenege.
21. Walk the High Line. Goregous weekend with my mom.
22. Try Grey's Papaya - Finally had it after celebrating a birthday.
23. Go to Lord & Taylor - I finally went one day after work in April.

Dear Monday

Dear weekend, you were so much fun and well worth the trip.

Dear Phi Sigs, always a blast catching up. It was good to see Samy, Allie, Hilary, Rachel, Rebekah, Michelle, Jackie, Sushma, Megan and Ashlyn.

Dear Scott, so glad I was able to make a side trip up to Folsom to see you. Two years has been too long. You're coming to New York next time.

Dear Jet Blue, you need more direct flights from Sacramento to New York; being half hour late on departure due to the live TV issues wasn't worth it.

Dear Japan Day race, this is not going to be fun this weekend.

Dear May, glad you are starting off on a good foot. Let's make the rest count with all the things I have going on.

Dear quarter century birthay, can't believe its coming up so quickly. Got to make it count!

Whirlwind Washington DC Weekend

Man what a whirlwind weekend it was.. About a month ago my sister convinced me to come down to Washington DC for the weekend to be part tourist and part cheerleader for when she ran the Nike Women's Half Marathon with some of her fellow sorority sisters. Friday after work I headed down to DC via Bolt Bus with a stop along the way in Delaware, a new state for me. After a 4.5 hour drive, I made it to the hotel not even 10 minutes before my sister and Heather showed up from the airport. Exhausted but hungry we went to eat at Crystal City Sports Pub, a local pub near the hotel recommended by Trista, another sorority sister who was already in town and checked in.

Saturday morning bright and early, well earlier than I hoped, the four of us headed out to the NWHM "expo" so they all could get their information, gear, check out the vendors and take tons of pictures of course. After all, what was I there for? Lol. Once all the NWHM shenanigans happened we stopped at DC Cupcakes. Luckily we got there only about half an hour after it opened even with the line. I ended up getting a vegan apple cupcake and a coconut cupcake. Despite not having much of a sweet tooth, they were delicious. Post DC Cupcakes, we went back to the hotel for a bit then headed out again but to Nationals Baseball Park to see the Nationals play the Cincinnati Reds. The stadium was awesome and the goregous sunny day made it a perfect first time at the stadium. After moving into the shade, I was more comfortable and glad to see the Nationals take home a win.

After the game we headed back towards the National Mall to a bit of sight seeing/tourist action. Never having been to Washington DC before, I was excited to see all the national monuments. First stop along the way was the Washington Monument even though it is covered in scaffolding to do repairs after the earthquake in DC. Organizing dinner plans resulted in seeing the World War II Memorial next, of course photo ops with both my home state of California and my new home New York. We headed to the Lincoln Memorial after with a stop along the way for some good luck wishes for the runners. After another mini photo shoot courtesy of my sister and Trista, we headed back towards the White House before dinner. Suprisingly the White House is not along a main street that I imagined it would be from looking at pictures. It was nice not being overly crowded either. The day ended with a pizza filled dinner and last minute stop for race day necessities for my sister and fellow runners.

Sunday morning bright and early, well not bright as it was still dark out when we left, we headed over to the race area/start. There was a lot of photo taking and race prepping before they started at 7am. Myself and Russel, a boyfriend of one of the sorority sister's, mapped our game plan to be able to see our designated people run at certain mile markers. I was able to see my sister and capture a photo of her somewhere between miles 5 & 6 thanks to the handy werundclive.com app that was offered for spectators. I made it to mile 10 with Russel but we both managed to miss seeing my sister as the app had lagged in updating. After that bummer, I hauled my way towards the finish line to see my sister cross. Knowing her goal was sub-2 I eagerly anticpated her arrival. Not knowing she had stopped at a medical tent along the way I saw her cross at 2:01:33. I was so proud she finished, even a new PR although not the sub-2 she wanted. Once I met up with her at the medical tent we managed to make our way (with a bit of a detour) to see Heather, Trista and Brandi come by us to the finish line. Congrats to everyone!

After a long morning, I was ready to head to Union Station for my bus ride home. Had I known that you can possibly catch an earlier bus if there is extra seats, I would have not stopped to charge my phone. Even though I missed that chance, I was the first person on the bus and had my pick of seats. Let me tell you, I don't like long bus rides to begin with but the bus on the way home was by far one of the worst rides I have taken. 6.5 hours later after no stops and horrible traffic, I bailed at the first stop downtown by Canal Street in the city because I couldn't take it anymore. I was so lucky that I made to the N/Q/R Canal stop right as a train was pulling in and made it back home in 25 minutes on a Sunday night.

Overall it was such an exhaustingly long weekend but well worth the trip to see my sister and her fellow sorority sisters I had previsouly met and just met as well as checking out our Nation's capital. What a great way to end April and roll into May. I can't wait for my trip to San Francisco and Folsom/Sacramento this weekend to see friends I haven't seen in almost 3 years (or more for some). Stayed tunned for that post!

Purple Stride and Bronx Zoo Weekend :)

What a weekend this was, I feel like it went by so fast with all the different things going on. After a half day Friday due to our internal system being down, I managed to squeeze in errands (including picking up my race information/packet for Saturday's run) and a nap before heading to Long Island City to watch my roommate perform for the first time. The performance was at The Secret Theater, a cute little theater that made the performance feel intimate and close with the performers. My roommate was part of musical that was being performed by the first time with music by one of her close friends. Watching her made me realize that I'm not so artsy but love watching others enjoy their passion and talent.

Purple Stride 2013

Saturday morning was race time! Although it didn't start until 10am (late I would say), I was awake and ready to roll by 8am so I decided to head out early knowing that I had to take the crosstown bus over the triborough bridge. Once I got off the bus and walked downstairs into Riverside Park I had about half an hour until it was run time. Since this was the Purple Stride event (the Pancreatic Cancer run/walk held every year) I knew there would be plenty to check out pre and post race. There was a DJ with seating area, games, awareness booths, tables for highest fundraisers to decorate and sit at, merchandise table, photo area with backdrop and plenty other things to check out. After checking out the tables and dropping my bag off at the gear check I headed out the start line. After a moment of silence for those in Boston, I was off. Despite never running in this area before, my colleague Gregg, who lives near the area, gave me a brief "what to expect" list on Friday. Boy did his list help as I knew to expect a mix of hills, dirt trails and concrete paths. Overall the race was not as bad as I expected and the weather was perfect. Overall I felt great post race minus a bit of wheezing from my asthma/allergies kicking in. While walking towards the exit after getting my bag I stopped to take a quick photo in front of the Purple Stride backdrop and was kindly offered purple garb to dress in for fun. Thanks fellow runners!

Pretty entrance to the zoo

After errands and a hair consult, which I am getting my hair cut today(!!), I relaxed the rest of the night at home gearing up for Sunday which was spent going to the Bronx Zoo with Brett. I was thrilled to be going as I love the zoo and it's been on my NY bucket list since moving here almost 2 years ago.

The zoo is way up in the Bronx in Bronx Park that also houses botanical gardens. After an hour trip via subway/bus we made it! It's a short walk to one of the entrances to the zoo from the subway; not realizing that there are about 4 entrances total which makes things easier I'd say. It was a gorgeous zoo with old concrete style buildings as their administration offices and a few animal houses. The weather turned out perfectly to enjoy all that the zoo has to offer. Brett and I even indulged in some kiddie things like the petting zoo and taking goofy pictures. Overall it was an amazing day that I am glad I got to do.

Here's to the rest of April, spending this week seeing sorority sisters in town, playing kickball and seeing my sister run the Nike Women's Half Marathon in Washington DC this weekend; I'm excited to go to DC this weekend as I have never been. Check back for more next week!

Dear Monday

Dear weekend, you flew by in the blink of an eye but definitely a welcomed weekend.

Dear Janssen, congratulations on becoming a Spartan. You did awesome at the run.

Dear Ashlyn, it was good to see you for brunch, can't believe the last time I saw you was when I had just moved to New York. I'll see you again in San Francisco!

Dear Shrek movies, didn't know there were four of you and managed to see them all this weekend.

Dear Purple Stride NYC, I'm excited for this run as it starts later in the day and is in a different party of Manhattan that I haven't run. Let's do this!

Dear spring, glad you are here with the 70 degree temps last week but this back to colder temps aren't doing it for me this week.

Dear Washington DC and San Francisco, I can't wait to visit both of you between seeing my sister, visiting friends, attending a baseball game and enjoying the gorgeous weather, I am so ready for two mini vacations away from the city.

Dear roommate, I can't wait to see you perform this week as I now finally have a day off to see you.

Dear Bronx Zoo, you are on my New York to do list and I plan to cross that off my list in the next two weeks.

Awesome April

Can't believe it's already April but loving the gorgeous weather that comes with Spring. March ended on a high note with running my 3rd 5K of the year on Roosevelt Island. The Spring Fling 5K was a gorgeous day in the low 50's. Running this 5K alone for the first time was definitely a mental challenge as I had no one to be a running buddy with. Despite that fact, I did a 36.17 5K which is about average for me so far. Also in between the craziness there was a kickball pick-up game that was a blast as a sneek preview of the season to come which starts April 18th. Easter Sunday I went to brunch with Tiffany and Checkey at a delicious restaurant in midtown east. After I spent the rest of the day lounging around and helping Ann Marie out post surgery. Definitely was a great way to end March catching up with friends.

April has been a whirlwind so far between work training, three Mets games during opening week (yes three, but two of them were free) and the kickball kickoff party. I am so ready for kickball to begin again next week as it's been a long 6 months off but makes it for an awesome start to spring. I get to play on my team from last summer who were the most fun and yet competitive group of people I have met; this is also the first time I have played on the same team more than once after starting 6 seasons ago.

I can't wait for the rest of April; wings nights, kickball games, my April Pancreatic 5K with Michelle, Phi Sigs in town who I haven't seen in ages, going to DC to cheer my sister and her friends on at the Nike Women's Half Marathon and so much more. Keep you update on my adventures as much as a I can!