Monthly Archives: February 2010

Jason and I are safe and sound in Maryland. We took a 9 am flight yesterday morning and landed around 11. We went to my favorite restaurant for lunch – Lebanese Taverna. I ordered the Vegetarian Mezza. When it came out, I was sort of disappointed. It was a bunch of tiny tastes, which I guess is what Mezza is, but I didn’t feel very satisfied. I should have ordered the Chicken Shwarma sandwich which is what my mom and Jason got. Oh well. Considering I go to this restaurant like every single time I’m in town, it’s no biggie.

For dinner, we went to Potenza which is where we’re having the rehearsal dinner. “We” was my father, stepmother, brother, sister, Jason and I. My mom had found this restaurant and none of us had been before so we wanted to see what it was all about. My dad has to fast for 24 hours before his surgery so I think he was all about stuffing his face. He suggested that we get a pizza as an appetizer for the table. We got some sort of mushroom one. It was really delicious. For my entree, I got the Maltagliati al Ragu di Pesce which according to the menu is torn house made basil pasta ribbons with heirloom tomatoes in a light fresh seafood ragu and according to the waiter is not pronounced anything like it’s spelled. All the men got the same thing – a pile of meat. Seriously, my dad, Eric and Jason all got the Rigatoni and Sunday Gravy which was Meatball, spicy fennel sausage, spare rib, brasciole. Um, no thanks. My entree was good, but I really preferred the pizza to tell the truth.

On the way home, my brother and Jason launched into a very nerdy discussion about lasers. My brother is uber-smart, but actually not nerdy at all. He’s about to get his Bachelor’s in Physics this May and then going back for a PHD. When he starts talking about Physics stuff and his on campus job (which apparently involves lasers), I honestly have no idea what the eff he’s talking about. It’s just funny how our interests are so opposite. I majored in Studio Art and minored in English and he’s majoring in Physics and minoring in Math. (My sister is more like me.) What about you? Are you more interested in Humanities or Sciences?

Jason and I were going to go out with some friends tonight, but decided to take a rain check. There’s too much laundry to do. I literally told my friend that I couldn’t go out because I have to do laundry. Lame, but true. We also had to drop off Murphy at the dog hotel. Unfortunately, they don’t open until 8am on Saturday and our flight is at 9, so we had to take him tonight. I think he likes it there. The website says the dogs go out and play six times a day.

I had to bail on doing a run at lunch because I forgot a towel. I know, I know. I really do need to make a checklist like Laura suggested. The gym’s open until 9 or so, so I still have time. I know that I won’t be working out tomorrow (no time) but I’m going to try to do my 9-mile long run on Sunday. That depends on the weather, I guess. I don’t think DC got hit by this latest snowstorm, but I’m not really sure.

Last night was fun. A friend of mine who is in the Army was passing through Atlanta on his way from Ft. Benning to Maryland. I offered him a place to stay and we went out to dinner. I don’t think he’d been to ATL before (he was only temporarily stationed in GA for an officer training thing), so I tried to think of a place that was quintessentially Atlanta. I came up with The Vortex. The main draw to this place is that it looks cool; you walk through a big skull to get inside. And I guess they have good burgers, but I don’t eat beef. I had a cup of veggie chili and a side salad. And a piece of Jalapeno cornbread which came with the chili. I tried to ignore it, but it was staring at me saying, “I am greasy and good. Eat me.” So, I obliged. We had a couple of drinks at the bar and then went back to watch some Olympics. I am going to be sad when the Olympics is over. It’s really good background TV. I’m not a big TV watcher at all, but sometimes I do turn it on while I’m blogging or online. I can’t really focus on tv shows for some reason. Jason always makes fun of me because when we’re watching TV, I’m always doing something else at the same time. I can focus on movies though, you’d think it’d be the opposite. We have a TV in our bedroom and I don’t think I’ve ever turned it on!

I sometimes have this problem where I get home from work and I’m really hungry. But for whatever reason, I decide that it’s too early for dinner. So I end up snacking on some stuff and always eat more than I need to and then eat dinner on top of it. I started to do that tonight but then told myself that I just needed to go ahead and eat dinner. Who cares if it was only 5:30? And what did I have for dinner? Refried beans mixed with salsa and Kavli crackers. Not the most balanced thing, but sometimes I really have a craving for refried beans.

So, you remember the zebra on the highway last week? Today there was a buffalo. Yes, I am not joking. Poor guy fell out of a trailer and had to be put down. I don’t know what it is with this city and animals on the interstate.

As much as I am not looking forward to my father having surgery, I am kind of excited to get out of Atlanta for the weekend. I don’t know if it’s the cold weather we’ve been having this winter or just winter itself, but I feel like the weeks have just been dragging on. I think I always feel this way in February though. I think it’s the worst month. I mean, there’s Valentine’s Day, if you’re into that, but other than that, what else is it good for? Not that DC is going to be warmer, but at least it’ll be a change.

I’ve been feeling better these past couple days. I’ve been putting a lot of energy into working out and I think that’s helped. Now, I’m not going crazy or anything like that, but I’ve been trying to get all my mileage in and lift weights in addition. I decided to split up tomorrow’s 5-miler into a 2 and 3. I don’t know if splitting up my training plan like this is as effective, but I feel like I’m getting the miles in, so I shouldn’t worry. Besides, I have run five half-marathons before; I can do the distance.

Went down to the office gym at lunch and did 2 miles on the treadmill. I haven’t lost any weight (according to my scale) but I ran in these old mesh UVM shorts and they were literally falling off me. Weird. Not that I’m complaining about that. In addition to the run, I also did a few ab moves. I never know what half these things are called!

full sit-ups, 3 sets of 12
where you lie on your back with your legs in the air and lower them practically to the floor, 3 sets of 8
sitting on my butt with my legs not touching the floor, going side to side with a 7.5 pound weight for obliques, 3 sets of 20
side plank – 2 sets of 15 seconds each, each side
V-ups – 1 set of 12 (so hard!)

I tend to neglect my abs. I guess it’s because I’ve always heard that you can’t spot train. Is that true? Will doing a bunch of ab-work give me a flatter core? I mean, I know it’s good for running and posture and everything, but from a purely superficial standpoint, will it help my honeymoon bikini cause?