My first "marathon" and 3 new medals!

Well, we have officially entered racing season! Starting last week, I have a race almost every weekend till the middle of August.

Last weekend's race was "special" because it was my first "marathon." I'm using quotes generously because honestly, a marathon is an amazing accomplishment and I don't want to take away from people who have actually run them. What I did was a "marathon" - a progressive marathon to be exact. You see, I actually ran a 5k.

When I went to sign up for the Villa Park 5k I noticed there was a progressive marathon option - before the day of the race each entrant was required to run 23.1 miles, so the last 5k would put them at 26.2 miles, the length of a marathon.

I figured I was going to be running the same 3.1 miles whether I was doing the 5k or the progressive marathon, and how often would I get the chance to run a progressive marathon? Plus, I can knock out 23.1 miles in 2 weeks, so that wasn't a problem. Progressive marathon it was!

The day of the race I showed up bright and early. The race started at a local high school track, so there were bleachers set up for Thatmom and Thatboy to hang out at. While we were sitting, a woman came up and mentioned that she had stashed her stuff in the row behind us, so we shouldn't be alarmed by the unattended stuff.

As we lined up to start, I found myself standing beside the same woman. We got to talking and found out we ran a couple of the same races (and would be running the same race this upcoming weekend). She mentioned that she had run to the race that morning instead of driving. All 4 miles.



And then the airhorn went off and we started running. And I quickly got left in the dust of my new bestie. Holy Hannah is she fast. And speaking of fast, when I hit the first mile mark, I checked my time and it was a new world record. Okay, not a new world record, but definitely my fastest mile to date - by 30 seconds!

But my finish time wasn't any kind of personal record, which was a little disappointing. But I trotted off to the progressive marathon station where they were handing out medals to those of us how had officially completed 26.2 miles.

And then my new bestie caught up with me to talk about the race. One of the coordinators of the race saw us talking, and saw my medal and came over to talk to us about how we thought it went. "You can tell a runner organized the race" my new bestie said, "because you're giving medals 5 deep in each age group." Usually races just give medals 3 deep, and my new bestie had a habit of coming in 4th. She was thrilled to be getting a medal this time around.

As for me, I've never been fast enough even come in 4th, so Thatboy and I headed to the car where Thatmom was already waiting for us, since she got too cold to hang out outside.


That evening, to celebrate my first "marathon" we went to Thatmom's new favorite restaurant. She apparently goes there once a week. The Side Door - so called, because you actually enter through a side door from the main restaurant, 5 Crowns.

Thatmom loves this place because it's small plates and we all know how much she loves small plates. The seating is eclectic. We ended up on a couch, 2 arm chairs, and eating off of a coffee table.



Thatboy and I quickly found our favorite local beer, which made us very very happy.

See those guys in the little glass window? Of course you do. There's a big red arrow by their heads. Well those are the guys the make up the cheese plates, mash the avocados, and toss the salads. I bet they get several marriage proposals a night.

We started out with the avocado mash, one of Thatmom's favorites. And it was delicious. Nothing fancy, mashed avocados, some salt, chives - but remember, sometimes simple is exactly perfect the way it is.

"Ohhhhh I love panzanella" I exclaimed.
"What's panzanella?" asked Thatmom.
"A salad, where the main component is bread."
And that's all it took to get this salad on our table. Toasted bread, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, and an herb marinated goat cheese. After we finished, Thatmom had another proclamation: "Ohhhhh I love panzanella."

We also ordered a cheese plate, and this time I stole a menu so I could tell you about these deliciously fabulous cheeses. From left to right:
Renata - a cow's milk cheese from Washington. It was supposed to be a little pungent, but we didn't think it was at all. Just creamy.

Tete de Moine - another cow's milk cheese. This 0ne was from Switzerland and was the table winner. A little nutty, with the perfect consistency and a great mouth feel because of the way it's cut to create the cool wavy pattern.

Brebicet - a French sheep's milk triple cream cheese. It was a little cool, not room temperature warm enough and was okay for a soft cheese, but not as sweet as we would have liked.

Haricots Verts with creamy ricotta and lemon basil. I was just remarking to Thatmom that there is a world of difference between fresh ricotta and store bought. I adore the fresh stuff as used in this dish. And the beans were perfectly done so they still had some crunch to them.

Thatboy's pick was the Shelton Farms Chicken Pot Pie. Thatmom and I weren't so impressed, but Thatboy really liked it. Maybe because it was his choice? We don't let him make a lot of choices himself.

My choice - The Chicken Brochetta with mole, rice, and lime. Maybe there's something about picking the dish, because this one I loved and no one else was impressed. And I'm addicted to pickled onions lately. I just can't get enough of them.

Roast Beef Cuban on Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese Bread. I suggested this, thinking it would be something Thatboy and I would like, but expected it to get vetoed by Thatmom. But she was game to try it. We were all very happy we did. The roast beef at the main restaurant is known for being fabulous, and it was clear this translated into excellent roast beef sandwiches. I've never had a cuban sandwich with roast beef, but it worked SO well.

And that was the end of my race weekend, or so I thought. On Monday I got an email from the race director with a link to our official times, and I went to check it out to see the difference between my finish time and my chip time. Then I went to see how my new bestie did (other than being 6 minutes faster than me). And I noticed something funny. My name. Listed as the 5th place finisher for my age group. (Remember how I said they were giving medals 5 deep?) Later this week I got a fun envelope in the mail containing not one, but 2 shiny new medals to add to my Progressive Marathon Medal! One for being a top finisher in the 5k, and the other my 5th place medal!

I don't think there'll be another race where I'll earn 3 medals, so I'm taking full advantage of being able to gloat on this one.

More Birthdaying! Crazy Animals

A couple days before my actual birthday, Thatboy told me he wanted us both to take the day off work. But then things got busy at my work and Thatboy had a trial, and I just didn't think it was going to happen.

Then I had an unexpected meeting schedule for the morning of my birthday (this always seems to happen to me) and Thatboy was fairly certain his verdict would be back that morning....since they jury had been deliberating 2 days already...for a DUI.... So we decided to do a half day. Which reminds me of how we spent my birthday last year!

And like last year, once we were off work, we headed to the zoo! My fave place ever. I really wanted to check out the new polar bear exhibit because we hadn't been since the 5k where we raised money for them to build it!

We usually don't stop and look at the flamingos, but they were SO pink, we gave them a gander and came upon a lot of interesting sights.




Did you know Flamingos slept on their knees? And that their knees bend backwards like some weird zombie creature?

It was hatchling season so we got to see baby flamingos! So cute and grey and fuzzy! Hard to believe these grow into giant pink birds, huh?



Those big mud lumps are actually flamingo nests. And the sitting flamingos are sitting on eggs. When they stood up we got to see pre-baby flamingos!

But of course, our real reason for the trip was to visit our polar bear buddy in his giant new habitat.

I love this big galut. He's such a ham, fooling around for the camera. Waving his giant paws, scratching his ears, rolling over.

His girlfriend doesn't pander to the crowds (you don't know how hard I had to fight not to stick a "panda" joke in there). She made herself a nice bed under the shelter and only briefly deigned to look at us. And frankly, I think she was only looking up to see if our buddy was going to be bringing her something to snack on anytime soon.

And of course, no trip to the zoo is complete without visiting my bestie beasties!

Although we might have come at an inopportune time since we appear to have intruded on an, ahem, "intimate" moment.

And believe it or not, I hadn't been to the zoo since the newest member of our panda family made his debut. There are two times of day in the panda enclosure - eating time and sleeping time. We happened to arrive during eating time.

Except for our new little guy who was taking a nap. How cute is his little tail! Hi baby panda!

We were meeting the rest of my family for dinner a little later, but Thatboy and I headed to the restaurant early to enjoy some happy hour. Because there's nothing better than beer on your birthday.

Now, I've actually been avoiding blogging about this restaurant for a while. It's Thatboy and my best kept secret - the place we take family and friends to, but don't really spread the word about. We like it because it's local and hidden, and we kind of like it that way. It's the place we go when we decide last minute we want to eat out because we can always get a table and the food is phenomenal and locally sourced. The local beer selection is awesome, and all their wines are from small batch distributors. Can you see why we want to keep it to ourselves?

Thatboy and I made ourselves comfy on the deck overlooking the lagoon and ordered a couple of beers and the baked goat cheese.

Thatboy is in love with the bread here, we always go through multiple baskets. And the goat cheese is so good, we ordered another one to share with the family. Thatboy liked it best with the pesto, but I loved the sweetness the caramelized onions brought to the tangy cheese.

Eventually the rest of the family got down to us, and we moved indoors, and switched to a bottle of wine Thatbrother brought with him.

Thatmom and I both got the flatiron steak. All the alcohol means I needed something heavy in my stomach, and steak sounded like a great choice, but beer and bread and cheese made me too full to finish. Although I did some nice work on those buttery veggies. Mmmmmm I love veggies! I think Thatmom cleaned her whole plate.

Thatbrother got the duck confit, the first dish I ever had here and one of the best duck confits I had. He was pretty impressed with it.

And UDubb had another one of my favorites - the cassoulet with chicken breast and Italian sausage. I love the meatiness the tuscan beans add to this and the saltiness the pancetta brings.

Thatboy got his favorite dish (and Sisterwife's too) - the Scallops with farfelle. He loves these scallops! And I don't know that many places that serve them grilled, a nice change.


And we finished the evening with a cake Thatmom brought from Susiecakes. Which we graciously shared with the restaurant staff since there was no way we were eating the whole thing. The staff was very upset to learn this bakery was in Orange County because they are now as addicted as we are!

And thus ends my birthday celebrations for 2010. Although Prez and I have already started planning for 2011..........

More Birthdaying! Blast from the Past

When Prez and I first started planning our Girls' Weekend, the original plan was to hit up nearby Temecula for some wine tasting. And I started doing research on activities on the potential weekends and came across something very exciting...for me.

I immediately emailed Prez - "We're not going to Temecula the weekend before my birthday, the girls' weekend HAS to be the weekend after your birthday. The weekend before my birthday Thatboy and I are going to be in Temecula seeing THE GIN BLOSSOMS."

See, I happened to notice that one of the weekends was the "Temecula Wine and Balloon Festival." And each night of the festival had concerts. And one night, my all time favorite band ever was playing. Yay Gin Blossoms! If that wasn't enough to get me there, Vertical Horizon was also going to be playing. It was like high school and college all rolled in to one. I immediately begged Thatboy to take me there, and he was happy to oblige.

We arrived at the festival early enough to take advantage of the fact that multiple Temecula wineries set up shop and were doing tastings.

But before we could get to the wine, Thatboy spotted something else he wanted to taste...

There was a Stella Artois booth - complete with a souvenir Stella glass. We were sold.

While we drank our beer, we wandered into the kiddie area. That makes sense, right?

Thatboy found a new pokey friend.

And then there was the petting zoo! How cute are these puppies?

(For the record, I know these aren't puppies)

But of course, we saved plenty of room for the wine - we're predominantly "red" people, but it was so hot we ended up doing a lot of whites - cool and refreshing in the summer sun.

And we found quite a few we really enjoyed. Including the Amour De L'Orange from Weins.

We enjoyed this sparkling wine with a hint of orange so much, we swung by Weins the next day to pick up a bottle.

There was music all day long, so when we needed a break from drinking, we settled into the grass for a picnic. Thatboy was thrilled to see "FAIR FOOD!" as he proclaimed. And he went about collecting another cup for the day - this one filled with a mix of cream soda and root beer.

As for me, I went with something a little more my style.

Eventually it was time to settle in for the evening and get ready for the music!!!!!!!!

There were a couple of bands before Vertical Horizon took the stage, but really are you interested? They were okay but not as great as my boys.

Vertical Horizon was fun to watch. Thatboy commented on their high energy level - they had the crowd going which is definitely something given that it was still light out.

After they played, Thatboy and I used the break to go grab dinner. Continuing on his Fair Food extravaganza, Thatboy had a sausage.

And I tried to elevate it a little by having gumbo. Friends, a wine festival is not a place to have gumbo. Well, at least not gumbo with shellfish in it. I spent most of my dinner de-shelling the crab and shrimp, and picking out pieces of shell I missed.

But my meh dinner was forgotten when the Gin Blossoms took the stage.

Have I mentioned how much I love the Gin Blossoms? And they have a new album coming out. They even played s0me songs off of it. I already made Thatboy promise to get me the album once it's available.

Robin Wilson even came down into the crowd. Although after several people tried to steal his hat, I don't think he'll be doing that again.

I never get tired of watching and listening to the Gin Blossoms, and yet too soon the concert was over.

So Thatboy headed for the other highlight of the festival - the Balloon Glow. (Hey it IS the Wine and Balloon Festival).

They do lots of "tricks" with the balloons, having them light up to music, and in certain rhythms. But our favorite was the Flicker.

And then we were off to our room for the evening - at the Inn at Churon Winery.

It was late and we weren't thrilled with some of the aspects of the place when we got there, so I'll share with you the highlights from our "everything is better in the morning" morning.

First, there's the jacuzzi tub. As tired as we were, we definitely took advantage of this the night we checked in. It was such a relaxing way to end the evening.

Then there was the bed. OH this bed. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Westin heavenly bed has got NOTHING on this bed. Thatboy and I didn't want to get out of it the next morning. I was planning on getting up and going for a run, but even I couldn't get out of this bed.

And then of course there was our full size balcony. While I did my getting ready routine, Thatboy sat outside there. I won't mention he also sat outside there in the dark after our bath, because that would make him sound weird.

But with a view like this, can you blame him?

And then came breakfast. Thatboy and I are no stranger to B&Bs, but this was the first time we were given a menu at breakfast, with a selection of made to order choices. Thatboy had an eggs benedict.

I ordered a croissant filled with cheese and eggs - which is pretty much one of my fave things for breakfast. I love buttery croissants and y'all know how I feel about cheese. But this was so filled to the brim I couldn't even finish it!

And then there was the free wine tasting. We weren't expecting much, but found some real winners, and a wine to bring home to Thatmom! And in an ultimate "I'm now a real adult moment," Thatboy and I joined the wine club! It's our first wine club, and I'm pretty excited about it. See, unlike most wine clubs, we get to pick our selection every other month - not just get shipped a wine we may or may not like. AND we can pick up our wine whenever, so if we don't get around to it one month, the next shipment we can combine with the one we missed and get twice as many wines. Love that. Maybe this growing up isn't so bad after all!