The Best Day Ever

A hike overlooking LA and the Hollywood sign. The cutest lunch deli with delicious food while spotting celebrity Adrian Greenier from Entourage. Wine outside on a beautiful day with best friends. Does this all seem possible? Yes, it does! And it was! I had a very memorable last day in California yesterday. It's one of those days I'm sure I'll remember the rest of my life.

Natalie and I the night before.

Lee! Who made the PANCAKES!

We woke up and started the day with homemade Pancakes and strawberry sauce made by our friend Lee. We drove to LA to hike g through Runyon Canon Park in Hollywood. The hike took about 2 hours and was absolutely stunning. We saw views of Los Angeles and the Hollywood sign. It was a perfect sunny day and the weather was ideal for a hike. The hike was challenging, but not too difficult and I was sad when we finished. It was about a 3 mile hike all together, with beautiful views.

Peek a boo Hollywood sign!

Love.

After our hike we headed to the The Mustard Seed to eat lunch. While walking past the window I spotted "Vinny" from Entourage. I couldn't think of his name, and I was a little bit more starstruck than I thought I'd be. He is really good looking in a very pretty boy kind of way, and seemed to be enjoying his lunch. If we didn't just finish a long hike and was starving I probably would have asked to take a picture with him. Also, he was eating lunch and no one seemed to be bothering him so I didn't want to make a scene, even though I kind of did. I did manage to get a pic of him walking out of the restaurant, even though and one point we were only a few inches away!

Bye bye Adrian Grenier :( 

Coco staring at the Hollywood sign in between opening the window with her paws.

After lunch we headed to "There's no place like HOME" restaurant. It was adorable! The theme was "home" obviously, and it was a very cute, laid back feeling.

After lunch we headed back to LAX area and had a quick bite for dinner. I don't remember the name, but it was a all vegetarian restaurant. I realize where my weaknesses are when it comes to ordering out. I had a side of sweet potato friends I could have easily went without at dinner and a side of potato salad at lunch that I could have easily switched to salad. I have to start making these small changes, and stop treating everything as a "special" occasion.

The flight home last night was easy, I slept the entire way. I woke up in Detroit, came to my house and slept a few more hours. Now I am sitting in my messy room, trying to get the motivation to unpack to pack again, while thinking of the amazing time I had in California. I am really happy I chose not to cancel the trip. The next few days are going to be insane, but I'll make it work.

Today is 100% a REST day. It is a beautiful day in Michigan, I just need a day of REST for my body. I ran/walked/hiked 40 miles the last 3 days, so I think it's well deserved :) At this moment I feel happy and extremely blessed to have such great friends all over.

Gotcha

Today I took a rest day. Unfortunately tomorrow will be a rest day too, because I go to the airport a hour after I get out of work. I will have another active week in California though. I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of work. I have been there since the end of October and it flew by.

 "Gotcha" is the name of my new nail polish. I know I have been complaining about how busy and stressed I am, well one of the things was to use one of my groupons for a manicure and pedicure. I got two when it came out last December for Christmas for my mom and I, and we were going to wait to use it together for a special occasion. Well, considering I only have less than 5 days in Michigan we needed to make a quick girls date out of a random Thursday. Today was the day since tomorrow I head to California.

I also got my haircut at Alex and Emilio where one of my best friends Renee is a stylist. We ended the day meeting my sister for a great Italian meal. It was so fun! I definitely needed a little relaxing today after the craziness my life has been. I felt guilty because I have a lot to figure out and pack, but tomorrow I head to California and I am going to try to put it all behind me and enjoy the company of my best friends. I have been looking forward to this trip for a long time- great company, weather, runs and possibly Disneyland!  If I make it to this Disney location then I have visited every location, except Paris.  

My girlfriends Kendall, Natalie, Gretchen and Hannah. So excited to see them this weekend!

Spring in Michigan!

I think spring peaked it's way out when I was in Florida. Yesterday in Michigan was around 80 degrees! Today it was the high 60s, and it was nice to come home this morning and not freeze. We woke up before 5 AM in Florida to catch our early flight. I slept a little on the plane and arrived home around 11 AM, then headed to work from 12-6 today. I am exhausted. I have things to unpack, things to go over, and need to rebalance myself before doing it all again Friday for California. Today is my day off. It was a wonderful weekend of exercise, but along with the exercise was eating out, snacking, and a few cocktails. Last night we went to Roy's and it was amazing.

Gloomy!

I am still sick. I have been fighting my body's request to rest, because of everything going on right now. Today I gave in. I am laying in bed, but still working. I am busy looking at apartments, and taking care of "things" I have to do before my big move. There are a lot of things I have to consider. It was so fun driving my new car to work today! I love that I can plug my Ipod or flash drive directly into it for music. My friend Justin in Thailand gave me this cute little Mickey flash drive when I left Bangkok as a going away present, and I saved it for the perfect time. I think this is it!

I really need to use the rest of my Yoga sessions before my big move, along with about 23423894320432 other things on that list. Tomorrow I will have a new baby cousin- but more like a nephew. My cousin Julie lived with me for a few years growing up, she is one of my best friends in the world and I can't wait to meet the new little baby! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind... 

Sick :(

I tried to fight it. I really did. I tried to convince myself that I wasn't sick. Last week I slept terrible. It was an exciting week, with a lot of exciting news, but I didn't really sleep well at all. Saturday I started to feel really run down, but I thought it was from my 17 mile run/ walk. Sunday I felt worse. And today, I knew I needed to go to the Dr. I squeezed in an appointment right after work at 2 PM and when I got into my room, I fell asleep on the bed! When the Dr. came in he was like "hello?" and disoriented I thought it was my dad. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. Anyways, I have another bacteria infection and was given a z-pack. The Dr. was getting annoyed with me because I kept asking when I could run again. He told me to take off until Friday, but I am going to see how I feel in a few days and do Yoga. 

Today was a "rest" day on my schedule, but it wasn't very restful. It was exciting! I got a new car! I got a Mercury Mariner 2011. I wanted a Escape, but I fell in love with this little blue Mariner and ended up getting a better deal. I am so excited! I have never owned my own car before. I can't wait to do silly things such as keep a sweatshirt in the back and my tennis racket. I always shared a car with other family members and my dad would get annoyed when I left things in the trunk. It will be so fun to keep my own things in the car! I think this is my first step to officially becoming a grown up. Unfortunately that means the payments... 

The next step for my big move: find an apartment/ condo! The search is on for the perfect place.

REST day!

I have been doing my stretches all morning. Unfortunately I can't get a chiropractor appointment until Tuesday, so I really want to take it easy to try to feel better for tomorrow. I really don't want to injure myself. I am thinking of going to Yoga today at 4:30 PM, depending on how my two calls go at 3 and 4 PM. I might just really rest. This morning I mixed blueberries, strawberries, almond butter, greek yogurt and these unfrosted mini wheats. I will take a picture of the box tomorrow, they have absolutely no taste by themselves and my mom has complained they taste like hay, but mixed with other things they add the perfect crunch!

17 miless tomorrow! Woo HOO! 

In love... with Winter Park!

I spent the day at a city I have heard quite a bit about. Winter Park, Florida. It was the cutest little place ever! There were boutiques, restaurants and the cutest stores! I loved it. 

My ankle is feeling better, and I'm definitely not as sore as I was the day I ran the 12 miles on the track. I feel great, actually! My legs a little bit, but I walked around a lot today and it wasn't bothersome. 

I am waiting to pick up my brother from the airport, I have about a hour before he gets in. I am trying to plan our Disney day for tomorrow. Where to eat lunch? What park to go to first? Where to park? I need to figure out the plans so I have a good idea. I don't like the saying "play it by ear". 

Tomorrow is going to be 78 degrees! I don't think I could think of better weather than that for our big day! I am currently watching Charlie Sheen on 20/20. I am pretty sure I am going to have nightmares, for the rest of my life. I feel sad for him.

Day After

I went to bed last night at 10 PM and woke up today at 9:45 AM. Needless to say, I was sleepy. I felt great when I woke up. My leg pain is minimal, but my right knee is bothered. Not hurting, just a little bothered. I picked up a Arctic Ease wrap sample at the Expo and am trying it out! It claims to provide comfortable and soothing relief, and to apply the cryotherapy wraps during the first 48 to 72 hours of injury to reduce pain and swelling and to speed healing. It sure feels great right now on my knee!

I am taking a full rest day today! I am doing laundry, cleaning, and organizing. I am going to go to Yoga tomorrow at LA Fitness,  I printed out a free pass for the day. I think Yoga tomorrow is just what I will need! 

Guess what I did today? I SIGNED UP FOR ANOTHER HALF MARATHON!

That's right! Today was the deadline to sign up for the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago half marathon, before the price raises to $25. Also, I found a coupon code online to save an additional $10, the code is SDSURVEY10. My dad is signed up for this, and it's on his Birthday- so I am excited! Also, I still am considering a full marathon. I will either do the San Diego or the Detroit one. I would love to do San Diego because a few of my friends are running it, however the plane prices are really expensive now and I am not sure if I will be able to afford San Diego in June, as well as California in April. 

I am so happy I decided to stay in Orlando another week. The first week FLEW by! I would be so sad if I was leaving today. I haven't even made it to Disney World yet (except for running through). 

What are your favorite ways to relax after a long distance run?

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Look at my cute bag from Lucy.

I am not feeling great right now, a little bit tired and a little sore in my shoulder. I am considering doing Yoga tonight, or taking a rest day. I am going to lay down for a bit and see how I feel! I do love that saying, "get in the shape of happy." I haven't shopped at Lucy yet, but maybe I will check it out!

Update: 6:35 PM I took a REST day today. I am really sore today. I wasn't at all yesterday, the day after the long run but today I feel really sore. I'm just laying in bed taking full advantage of this "REST" day.

SNOW DAY!

It has been announced, SNOW DAY tomorrow!

I am so excited. The best part of a snow day is the night before! I am going to watch "Across the Universe" tonight (one of my favorite movies) and clean my room. Sounds like a perfect snow night to me! I am anxious to see the storm that will actually come tomorrow. I'm excited I took tomorrow as my REST day, I won't have to go to the gym in the snow OR feel guilty about missing a training day!