Worth A Thousand Words

A picture really is worth a thousand words. Since this is the case, I have books (tomes even) worth of photos. Luckily, because of the digital age, we can do this, without having a box, photo album or film canister full of photos. Now we have a computer full. One of my projects for this year is to go back and print out some of my photos and put them into an album. I am doing pretty well; of the 10 years worth of digital photos I have to print, I have put about 8 of them into albums so far.

I probably take a photo every day. Maybe not every single day, but most days. I looked back on January, February and March and there are probably only 2 days that I did not take a photo, either with my camera or phone. One of the things I found helps me to remember to take photos is to bring my camera with me everywhere, even when it seems like a pain to carry it.

There are so many different reasons to take photos. Here are a few of mine.

To play: As you know, each week I contribute one photo to Triptych, a site where we give you a word to interpret how you want. Each photo is different and it's fun to see what other people get out of the same word. This also goes for photo of the day sites and lists (a couple of fun ones are: Fat Mumslim's Monthly List and Capture Your 365's Monthly List). I don't do these every day, but sometimes it's fun to make a day out of it.

Triptych's SPLENDID prompt

To capture a moment: These photos are often a little blurry, but they are a freeze frame of something remarkable. Of your baby's first steps. Of a smile. A vacation. A good night out with friends. Or a bicycle ride for two down the streets of a Brazilian town, 4 seconds before you ran into the curb and fell to the ground.

He's on the handlebars, taking the photo as we are riding along.

To remember: I travel a lot and love seeing all the beautiful places in the world. But with time, memories fade and that thing that you thought you would always remember can be just a fuzzy thought. I like to take photos so this doesn't happen. Like this one of my trip to Yosemite in 2004 with my Dad and Grandma, and my botched attempt to die my hair red.

To laugh: I snap a lot of photos with my iPhone. Of signs. Of people wearing silly hats. Of "butt rub". Of naked people walking down the streets of San Francisco. Yup. That really happens.

Bay to Breakers 2010

To create: I used to just snap photos left and right without thinking about it. Now, sometimes I take the time to get the light right, or the setting, or even just the frame. And sometimes I just get lucky.

To chronicle: I use my photos in lieu of a journal sometimes, since I often fall way behind in writing in it. Also, when I do decide to finally write in my journal, I have an easy database of photos to pull from, and to remind me of what I was doing.

Thailand: food to them; bugs to me.

To show:  I take a lot of photos with my iPhone to show my loved ones, who are far away, what is going on in my life. Even if it's as mundane as "look what I bought at Target" it's still fun to feel like they are right here with you, doing boring day to day stuff, as well as the fun things. Or, oftentimes, I show you too! This photo was taken by my Dad after we reached the summit of Mt. Shasta, and sent to my Mom from the top.

I'm ready to get down now

To remind: Different that "to remember" this is more like taking photos of something to remind myself of something...which wine I DO like, what book I want to buy, or how much batteries are at one store, so when I go to the other I can compare. It's like easy note taking.

These clips are cheaper at Target

And mostly, I take photos because it's fun!

Why do you take photos? What do you take the most photos of? Do you ever print your photos out and put them in an album?

What a Week

It's been a while since I've done a Week in Review post! I love doing them, since it's a great way for me to remember what I did throughout the week. I am surprised at how putting it together on a list makes me seem so much more productive sometimes! Not that I am not, but it just reminds me of what I DID do, rather than making me worry about what I did not.

Last Sunday, I went with a friend for a run and then brunch. The place we went to for brunch had really great food and bottomless mimosas, made with fresh fruit juice. The waiter comes around with a pitcher and in order to try the next kind (there were about 20) you have to down the one you have. Sure, the glasses are only 6 oz, but they add up!

 What started out as an innocent Sunday morning brunch....

See those teeny, tiny glasses? 

...ended up as Dance Party USA. 

Hey. There was Madonna.

And 2 Live Crew.

It rained a lot this week. 

View from the back porch.

The sun did peek out from time to time, enough so I could catch up on my

reading,

coffee drinking,

and sunshine loving.

That coffee cup holds about a third of the pot. 

I love it.

I also learned that "Cher" hair is back in style. 

Um, ladies, I have had that hair for the last 30 years. 

Well I guess you have to be "in style" once every 30 years.

Note the insert. 

It says "Don't go overboard.  Leave a little body. Poker straight hair is not always flattering"

Yeah. Like I said. 30 years.

I made a couple of care packages for my loved ones.

And this is why I believe in Karma...

The VERY SAME DAY...I received two blog prizes in the mail! 

A Nature Box that I won from Carrie. 

And Profoot insoles that I won from Marcia.

Heads up people. Do you love boxes?

Or organizing? 

Or organizing with boxes? 

Target special = $1 each! 

This weekend I went running, went grocery shopping and cooked up a storm.

Two kinds of chili.

And a pan of brownies. 

I did not eat this entire thing by myself. 

Only the entire edge part. 

The middle got cut out and made into...

 

These! Brownie Balls! 

Not quite the same as the cake pops I made last time, but close.

 

I had to try one. It was pretty darn good. Except that I really didn't need it. 

After I licked the batter spoon. 

And the bowl. 

And ate all the edges of the brownies. 

And all the leftover melting chocolates.

I feel sick. 

How was your week? Have you ever had bottomless mimosas? Be honest, how much of the brownie pan can you eat in one sitting?

Grizzly Peak Trail Run

For race number four of the 12 in 2012 Running Challenge, I chose to run my first trail race, the Grizzly Peak Trail Run hosted by Coastal Trail Runs. I thought I had run a trail race before, but it was really a very wide bike path race, NOT a trail race. So this one was an eye opening experience for me. I run trails all the time. In fact, 3 or 4 of my 4 times a week running are generally on trails. So I thought I was ready. I was surprised at how hard it was.

Let's talk about the pros and cons of the race. First, the PROS. This race was small. I see that as a major pro. It consisted of a 10k race, Half Marathon, 30k, Marathon and 50k. All together, there were probably 250 people, the half marathon being the most popular. Also, this race was only $40. It was in Tilden Park in the Berkeley Hills, which was a beautiful venue. Around mile 6, you could see the entire Bay Area, including the Golden Gate Bridge. 

The view from the top.

The aid stations were AWESOME! Snacks consisted of: Peanut M&M, plain M&M, chex mix, potato chips, pumpkin pie, gummy bears, oranges, bananas, watermelon, Gu, Clif bars, Oreos, graham crackers, goldfish, potatoes with salt, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, snickers, kit-kats, twix, trail mix, coke, sprite, water and electrolyte drink. I only had a few gummy bears and some water, but the other snacks were tempting! I'll let the 50k folks have them though! 

Yummy!

Now, the CONS. The t-shirt was cotton, but you can't really expect much for $40. There was a tech t option for an extra $24. There were no medals for finishing, only for placing. But that doesn't really bother me that much, since I have a stack of medals that I don't know what to do with already! The trail was pretty well marked, but I (and a few others) did get lost once. I don't know if that was my fault or what, but I wish it hadn't happened. There was only one photo at the very finish, and mine is blurry. 

It was a muddy race! Good thing I wore my old shoes!

So, how was the race? It was awesome. It started off a little congested, since it was not only a single track from the get go, but it was also uphill right away and very muddy. Many people were walking right away, so the beginning was a little slow. However, once we got up the hill and I passed a few people, it was good. I ran with the same 4 or 6 people pretty much the entire time, after the first couple of miles. 

Although the first 2 miles were uphill, it was more gradual, so I ran the entire time. However, at mile 2.5, the hill went straight up and since the guy right in front of me was walking, I decided to do the same. I really wanted to run the whole thing, but now that it's over, I realize that probably isn't possible. There were some killer hills! Sometimes you need to recharge. 

At mile 3.9, we finally started going downhill. Except it wasn't a relief. It was WORSE than the uphill.  After that, I found my rhythm a little bit and headed down the hills and back up the hills. At mile 6.5, the view was gorgeous. I told myself, "this is fun. And beautiful", and it was. At mile 8.5, I stopped at the aid station, ate a couple of gummy bears and a shot of coke (a first for me!) and then headed up the trail. Except it wasn't the trail. I figured this out, but not before I went about a half a mile out of my way (and half of it was uphill!) Darn it. I got back on track and started up the hill where the arrow is pointing to (the one that sucked). 

Luckily the last few miles was almost all down hill and it was gradual, so it made for a fast ending. I came in as the fourth girl and if I hadn't of gotten lost, I would have been first or second in my age group. As it was, I ended up third (so I got a medal anyway!) 

Final time: 2:14:55 (10:32/mi) 

3/12 age group

13/89 overall

Total elevation change: 4496 ft (according to Garmin)

Net elevation change: 1000 ft


I am considering this a new TRAIL PR! 

Afterward, I stuck around to help with the aid station at the end, which was also the turn around for the 30k, Marathon and 50k folks. The race director was awesome; everyone was like a little family. They were very friendly and just cemented the fact in my mind that the running community is The Best! 

Verdict? I would do this race again in a heartbeat. But first, there are so many more Coastal Races to choose from! Next up is the Cinderella which is only about 2 miles from my house. How can I not sign up for that one!?  

Have you ever run a trail race before? What is your favorite sweet or salty snack, either from my list or at a race you have run?

Email 101

I normally work in an office. We have fancy email addresses with the company name dot com and we spend a lot of time sending emails back and forth to clients. So it never ceases to amaze me how badly people behave over email. 

I was looking for a house a while ago. I sent an email to a prospective landlord (via Craigslist) asking when a good time to see it would be. Here was her response (I italicized it for clarity): 

thanks for the response--i will be showing it next tues (but  remember, it is occupied)-- the dates sound good-- may be best to call me, _____, for a phone interview first-- weekend is good for this  ###-###-####   (or earlier of necessary)--- hope to hear from you

This one was even better (and I have not changed any of the punctuation or wording): 

sorry only for one person.

That is all she (he?) said. Maybe this sounds silly, but I don't really want to rent from someone who can't even treat me as a client. Is this how they write emails all the time? If they are looking for a job, do they write their cover letter like this? Then I thought, maybe I am just being picky and anal about things; I do have a tendency to do that from time to time. So I went (where else) online to find out: What are the proper rules for emailing, especially when it's a business or "professional" email?

I found a great website. It's called 101 Email Etiquette Tips. It is a series of 101 tips, pertaining to sending and formatting emails, email attachments, cc'ing, forwarding, IMs, Business emails, blogs and message boards. Some of them were a little silly, some of them seem self-explanatory, but a lot of them were pretty spot on! 

Here are some of my favorites (I added a couple of comments in blue): 

- Make sure your e-mail includes a courteous greeting and closing. Helps to make your e-mail not seem demanding or terse.

- Spell check - emails with typos are simply not taken as seriously.

- Are you using proper sentence structure? First word capitalized with appropriate punctuation? Multiple instances of !!! or ??? are perceived as rude or condescending. **see lady above

- Refrain from using the Reply to All feature to give your opinion to those who may not be interested. In most cases replying to the Sender alone is your best course of action.

- Type in complete sentences. To type random phrases or cryptic thoughts does not lend to clear communication. **also see lady above

- Always end your emails with "Thank you," "Sincerely," "Take it easy," "Best regards" - something!

- Do not type in all caps. That's yelling or reflects shouting emphasis.

- Typing your emails in all small case gives the perception of lack of education or laziness. **OH! What? See lady above!

- When forwarding email, if you cannot take the time to type a personal comment to the person you are forwarding to--then don't bother.

- If you must forward to more than one person, put your email address in the TO: field and all the others you are sending to in the BCc: field to protect their email address from being published to those they do not know. This is a serious privacy issue! **Do you know how many of my friend's friend's email address I needlessly have due to this issue? So many!

- Be very careful how you use Reply to All and Cc: in a business environment. Doing so for CYA or to subtlety tattle can backfire and have your viewed as petty or insecure. **Annoyingly, the CYA (aka. tattle) happens a lot in my office.

- IMing is not an excuse to forget your grade school education. 

- Don't fall for trolls. Trolls are folks who will post rude comments just to get a rise out of everyone.**Did you guys see THIS post? If you get a chance, read it and then check out the subsequent comments!

- If any email states to forward to all your friends, or just 5 people -- do everyone a favor and just hit delete!

Here is the PDF of all 101 Tips.

What is your biggest email pet peeve? What is the worst case of punctuation or grammar you have ever experienced? You don't have to say who it was sent from, but were they supposedly an intelligent business person?

When Life Hands You Lemons

Lately, my lemon tree has been full. I have plenty of lemons. Life has given me lots of lemons.

I mean this both literally and figuratively.

Figuratively, and I have talked about this before, the job situation is getting a little out of hand. Usually, my job is temporary, and I am used to that. Like I said, I am similar to a freelancer. I work several months of of the year, and during that time, I have to save up for the dry months. However, generally there is a good mix of "wet" and "dry" months, and so I can not only make ends meet pretty easily, but I also keep from going completely crazy with boredom or a lack of productivity.

Right now, I am in a drought. I am California;  I need rain or my crops are going to die.

Luckily, this means I have free time to do what I have always wanted to do. I can learn French; I can knit a sweater; I can go see the Grand Canyon. However, this also means I need to keep saving up, because who knows when that rainy day will come. So I am improvising. The local library has a Spanish conversation class once a month in the evenings. I signed up. I have a long list of books on my To Read list. I am getting to know my neighborhood and the surrounding running trails. I am cooking. I love to cook and often don't make time for it. I am spending time with friends and family. It's good, in a way.

I ALSO actually have a lemon tree. And it has a boatload of lemons. I could make lemonade, but instead, I make hummus!! Have you ever made your own hummus? It's so easy!

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
1/4 - 1/2 cup bean water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 - 4 lemons, juiced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp tahini
salt to taste

In food processor, mix all ingredients and blend until smooth. You want the hummus to be a little bit on the thinner side, as it will thicken a little in the fridge once everything melds together. Start off with the oil and lemon juice, then add 1/4 cup water and see how it looks/tastes before adding the other 1/4 cup of water. When I say bean water, I mean the juice in the can, or if you cook your beans from dry, whatever water is in the cook pot.

Note, if you don't have tahini, it will still taste good, but I do like it better with the tahini. You should be able to find it at Trader Joes, or Whole Foods, although I bought mine at Safeway.

So, I am off to use my lemons of life! Any suggestions, literally or figuratively?

Have you ever made your own hummus? Have you ever been in a life drought and not known when the rains would come?

Currently: April

Current Book - The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner

Current Celebrity Crush - Peter Krause (Adam Braverman in Parenthood)

source

Current Drink - Zico Coconut Water

Current Excitement - Trail Racing! I had such a fun race last weekend, but more on that later!

Current fashion trend - flip flops -- that's as fashionable as I get!

Current Favorite Blog/Website - Self's Nutrition Values

Current Favorite Film - none, really. I saw Hugo and the Artist on the plane. They were both pretty good, but I wouldn't say they are my favorite.

Current Food - Lots of quinoa and tons of veggies! 

Current Guilty Pleasure - reading in the sun on the back porch

Current Indulgence - Pizza from the Cheese Board

Current Mood - tired


Current New Find - Cafe Biere in Emeryville -- Sunday Brunch with bottomless mimosas!

Current Outfit - jeans / sweater


Current Peeve - People on the escalator who stand two abreast and don't move out of your way when you are walking up or down them.

Current Song - anything by the Black Keys

Current Triumph - making a new recipe each week (and liking them!)

Current TV Show - Jeopardy (it's an old favorite!)

Current Wish-List - a house on the beach

Currently Delaying - putting money in my ROTH IRA for last year! I have 3 days left to do it! 


What are you currently up to?

Cherry Blossom 10 Mile: Race Recap

I got up at 6, ate breakfast and headed down to the race start, which was about one mile from my hotel. I was going to wear shorts, but it was about 45 degrees and a little windy outside, so at the last minute I opted for pants. I wore my iFitness belt, which has a bib holder, and my Chica Band in Zebra. I felt like I was heading for a safari.

Like I said before, the race started out packed inside a corral with thousands of other people. I was lucky to be in the RED wave, which was the second wave to go after the elites. This still didn't keep me from avoiding spending what I thought would be my first mile passing people, passing people*...wondering when the crowd will thin out and I could get an even pace going.  It turned out to be never. There were a few people that I kept pace with the entire time; one guy in particular who had Vibrams and a Philadelphia Marathon shirt on (thanks guy!)

Race Start

The course was nice and flat, but it was very windy, which made it harder. I decided to not carry water this time, as I thought that there would be plenty of water stops. What I didn't calculate in was the fact that there would also be thousands of people vying for the same tiny cup of water. I ended up skipping the first one and barely getting a drink at the second one. Note to self: Carry water. Every time. Even if it means carrying it but not drinking it.

10 Mile Race Course

As you can see from the map, the race started and ended at the Washington Monument, and then looped around to the Lincoln before going across the Memorial Bridge. The entire time I was running on the median, trying to pass people. On the bridge there was a concrete sidewalk, but up until then it was grass. I didn't care. I was trying to find my pace.

The rest of the race, I have to admit, was kind of a blur. I remember the shirts of the people near me. Like I said, the Philadelphia guy was near me most of the time. There were also a couple of DC RnR Marathon shirts. I guess I didn't really look around me very much becuase I don't even remember passing the Lincoln memorial, and I passed it twice!

At mile 9 an older gentleman went down hard! Everyone was calling for a medic, waving their arms at passing cars and yelling at onlookers to call 911. It was quite the fiasco. I hope that guy was okay. It was really scary. It made me cry a little to think of a) something scary like that happening to anyone and b) the overwhelming support. Everyone was doing what they could, race times be damned. It was very heartwarming.

After making sure that situation was taken care of, we only had one mile left. It went really fast, since most of the spectators were concentrated near the start/finish line and were cheering for us as we went UPHILL to the finish. I swear, this course was not very hilly at all, but the biggest hill was in the last half mile.

I crossed the finish line feeling good. I probably could have run a little faster, but finding my pace was pretty much impossible. I felt like I was bobbing and weaving the entire time. Afterward, I got the obligatory "I finished" photo (the guy cut off the top of the WA monument though!), grabbed a couple of bottles of water, a banana and a muffin (the only options) and went back to my hotel for a hot shower. I was still pretty cold and walking the mile back to my hotel did little to warm me up.

I have no legs

The funniest part is that I was telling my boyfriend how glad I was that I never had to pee during the race and he said that I could just pee on the grass if I needed to (jokingly, of course). BUT NO. You can't! It says so right in the rules. (click to zoom)

It says, "Please use only the 200 porta-potties to "relieve yourselves" before and after the race. Please do not even think of fouling the Washington Monument Grounds or the National Mall. Violations of this common-sense rule will jeopardize use of the course in the future as well." 

Hey, it doesn't say anything about not peeing on the grass DURING the race.

Here are the numbers. Funny enough, mile 1 was the slowest. Usually it's my fastest mile. Mile 10 was the fastest, which is often the case. I am like a horse to the stables. Plus, I really run it out for the last tenth or twentieth of a mile. 

Mile 1: 7:55
Mile 2: 7:31
Mile 3: 7:28
Mile 4: 7:26
Mile 5: 7:40
Mile 6: 7:30
Mile 7: 7:39
Mile 8: 7:39
Mile 9: 7:31
Mile 10: 7:06

*My Garmin actually measured the course as a little long (10.13 miles). This may or may not have been due to the fact that I went up on the median (grass) quite a few times in the beginning in order to attempt to pass people.

Time: 1:16:13 (a new PR!)
Average: 7:38 pace
Women: 503/9699
Age Group: 113/2220
Overall: Unknown

Don't forget to go over to Jill's to check out the other Fitness Friday posts! 

Have you ever peed in a public place?  Have you ever had to call 911?

I See DC

I have been lucky enough to have been to DC a few times. My grandmother lives in Baltimore and my Uncle lives in Virginia; both are less than an hour away from the city. So this trip was nice and relaxed; I didn't feel pressured to see all of the Smithsonian Museums in one day (by the way: NOT possible); I didn't run around like a chicken trying to make sure I went to the Changing of The Guards at Arlington Cemetery and the White House and all the other Federal Buildings. There weren't really very many cherry blossoms, so I didn't even feel pressured to get the perfect photo from the perfect angle. And, like I said, I was there by myself. So I did what I wanted.

I just strolled. And by strolled I meant walked really fast, because that is the only way I walk, much to the annoyance of people like my boyfriend who always asks why I am in "such a hurry". I just strolled, and even ran a little. Here is a quick recap.

Saturday

On Saturday, I arrived in the afternoon and went to pick up my packet for the race (see B). Then I walked over to the Mall (C/D). From there I walked past the Washington Monument (F), where there was a kite flying free for all! I walked to the Lincoln Memorial (H) via the WWII Memorial (G) and the Korean War Memorial (I). Unfortunately, the reflecting pool was closed. It seems like they may have done this sometime NOT during the 100 Year Anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival, but whatever.

After that, I went to the Tidal Basin (J) to see if there were any blossoms. There weren't. But I got to see the new MLK Memorial (K) which was neat. Then I went back to the hotel to get ready for the next day's race!

Day 1 walking route: 7 miles

Tidal Basin

WWII memorial

I love photos of people taking photos.

Reflecting pool = closed

Lovely kite flying day!

Random DC

Lincoln

Sunday

The race. And then I went over to Arlington, where I stayed the night. From my hotel, I walked to lunch and then to Georgetown, where I found my new house. Or a few of them. Once I make billions of dollars, that is. It was so crowded there. In hindsight, I should have waited until Monday, because this speedwalker was quite annoyed by the slow, looky loo walkers who stop in the middle of the sidewalk to talk on their phones while walking their dogs. I did escape to the less crowded streets, which were beautiful.

In the evening, I met up with the aforementioned Uncle for a stroll around Old Town Alexandria and dinner at the Fish Market. 

My new house, thank you very much. (Georgetown)

Alexandria

Monday

First I went for a gorgeous run (my 10k for the Jelly Bean) along the Potomac on the Mt Vernon trail. The trail runs along the river directly opposite the Mall, so the entire run I got a view of the monuments! Also, it was a nice sunny, although super windy day and there were tons of people on the trail with me.

My ingenious plan was to go to the Museum of Natural History (my favorite!) on Monday, since it would not be as busy as the weekend. I was wrong. It must have been field trip time, because it was PACKED. I did a quick skim of the Africa room, the ocean room and the dinosaurs and then headed to the Museum of American History. It was equally as crowded. Bummer. I couldn't handle it. If I hadn't been there before I would have stuck it out, but I have, so I left. I went via the Mall so I could take a few photos of the Capitol building (and maybe I "accidentally" caught this runner in the photo. Oops)

I went back to my hotel and went to bed early because I had to get up at 4 am the next day to catch my flight home! That sure made for a tired lady when I got back home (12 pm PDT + getting up at 4 in the morning EDT = confusion and fatigue).

Mt Vernon Trail

Half Naked Guy Running Capitol Building / Mall

 What is your favorite museum to go to? Do you do a lot of walking when you travel? Do early morning flights (and time changes) wear you out?

WIAW (3) & Stone Soup

Do you remember the book Stone Soup? If you haven't read it, the premise is that a bunch of travelers, who have only a large pot, arrive in a village and ask for food. The villagers state that they do not have any to spare. However, as time goes by, each villager adds their small item (veggies, spices, herbs) to the boiling pot of water with a stone in it, and it eventually becomes soup. In the end, everyone shares the soup.

I think this story is supposed to teach children to share, and that together they will have something wonderful. However, I don't want to dwell on that. What I like is that they just throw whatever any passing stranger happens to have handy right into the pot. One of my favorite things to make is soup, and although once in a blue moon I follow a recipe, generally I just throw whatever I have right into the pot. And Voila, I have stone soup. Sometimes it's vegetarian, sometimes it's not, and sometimes it has rice, or barley or quinoa. It almost always has beans. It is a cheap and easy way to have meals throughout the week. I usually make a big pot on Sunday and eat it for several days.

Today's stone soup recipe is just a guideline. If you have the ingredients, great. If not, you can substitute any bean, rice, pasta or meat you want. The key is the base. I usually do the base the same way and then where it goes from there is a surprise to everyone. (I apologize in advance for the crappy iPhone photos this week)

Stone Soup

Ingredients for base:
1 tbsp (roughly) olive oil (or any oil you like, or butter)
1 yellow onion, diced (Want an easy way to dice an onion? Go HERE)
2 or 3 or infinity number of garlic cloves, minced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced

Ingredients for soup: 
- 2 cups (dry) mixed beans
- 4 cups (you may need more) water or chicken stock**
- 1 can of corn

Optional: 
- 1 cup cooked or uncooked quinoa/barley/rice/pasta
- 1 large chicken breast, diced or shredded (or more, or a sausage..)
- Any other veggies you have on hand. Watch out for broccoli though; it tends to overpower the others.

A few notes before we start: If you are using beans, I usually soak them overnight, or if you don't have the time or you decide to make this late, you can use hot water and soak for about 2 hours, OR don't soak them at all; you will just have to cook everything a little longer. You can also used canned beans if you prefer. Today I used dried mixed beans, which you can buy pre-packaged. It usually consists of pinto, kidney, black, white, navy, black eyed peas, lentils, and green and yellow split peas). If you are using canned beans, I would use 2-4 cans, depending on how much soup, or how many different types of beans you want.

For the water part, I usually use the bean soaking water and add a little more. You want all the ingredients to be covered with about an inch or two of extra liquid. It will cook down. If you are using canned beans, go ahead and just dump the entire can into the pot, juice and all (if you are using black beans beware, they make the water kind of grey).  You still may need to add more water. **I am currently using Trader Joes Savory Broth Chicken Flavor which comes in a concentrated liquid form. It also comes in veggie. Or you can use a few bullion cubes if you like. The sky's the limit. Most of them are 1 packet to 1 cup of water, so add accordingly. If you use liquid chicken broth, just use that in place of water.

Directions: 

- In a large soup pot, sweat the onion, carrots and celery for about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes, until the onions become translucent. (a quick how to on sweating veggies)

- Add the chicken (I am usually lazy and want to "set it and forget it" so I add everything all at once. You could also add the chicken near the end, once the beans are done).

- Add the beans, corn and stock/water.

- Cook for about 3-5 hours. 

- If you are adding uncooked quinoa or other grains, add them about 30- 45 minutes before the soup is done.

You could also just dump everything in a crock pot in the morning and it would be done by dinner time! So there you have it, stone soup!

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This week's What I Ate Wednesday is the traveling alone version. When I am traveling alone, I tend to eat more healthy than if I am with someone else. Maybe because I don't go out to eat as much? Here is one of my travel meal days from Washington DC! Thanks to Jenn for hosting!

 Breakfast: Single serving cereal, Single serving milk, Banana

Lunch: Chipotle Chicken Bowl 

Dinner: 3x yogurt with strawberries / Peanut Butter Lara Bar

Snacks: 2x Apple

I ate a lot of that yogurt because I bought the big size and then was about to leave, so I decided to just finish it off for dinner (along with a lara bar). And you thought I ate weird stuff... Pshaw.

What weird thing do you eat when you are alone? Do you have a "go to" one pot meal that you throw together all the time?

On Traveling Alone

This weekend I traveled to DC alone, because I wanted to go to DC and run the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race. So I did. I often travel alone. It's not that my friends don't want to travel, or to come with me, or to support me. They just don't have time, or the money. That's okay though. I realized some time ago that if I wanted something, I needed to get it myself. I have to work for it; I have to plan it; I have to do it. Myself. This is not to say that if someone said they would come with me to DC I would have been unhappy. I wouldn't have. I would have loved it. However, I have learned not to hold my breath.

I guess this makes me sound kind of jaded. Well I am. Some people make time to read; some people spend their money on shoes or booze or a cruise. I spend both time and money on travel and lately, I have been spending it a lot on running. Signing up for races, traveling to get there, paying the price to stay where I am running (or hopefully having a friend to stay with) adds up. But I wouldn't change it for the world. I love it, both the travel and the running. Two things I can and will do alone.

A while back, the NY Times published an article about living alone and how weird you get when you do it. This article went to extremes, using examples such as people who talked to themselves, didn't always leave the house fully clothed, who left the bathroom door open or ate strange foods at strange times.

I admit, this trip as well as most of them, does make me realize that I do have some quirks. I like eating when I am hungry and not having to worry about when someone else is hungry, or the plans someone else has made. I don't always eat "real meals". I can have 3 apples and a carton of yogurt for dinner (ie I like eating strange foods at strange times).

I like going to the museums and deciding, after being trampled by 6 million elementary school children, that I want to leave, and go get a hot dog (which I will eat standing up, on the sidewalk, at a weird time of day).

I like stopping to take millions of photos of one tree (is that weird?), and not having someone trailing ahead of me, sighing heavily. I like doing what I like to do, and not having to worry about anyone else (and I like leaving the bathroom door open. What's wrong with that?)

Does this make me selfish? Yes. I am listing extremes, of course. On the other hand, I like planning out which museums to see with someone, and having their ideas, which you didn't even consider, turn out to be your favorite part of the trip. I like trying new things, that I may not try alone, not out of fear but out of ignorance. I like having someone to share exciting new discoveries with. I even like sharing a meal, at a regular time of day, sometimes.

So, I figured out how to have it all. Mr Lovely, who did not come with me, was subjected to a barrage of text messages and photos of "cool stuff". I frequently updated him on which museum I was in, which one of the 6 million kids were annoying me, or how cold it was before the race. He helped me decide to go to the Museum of American History (cool) but I vetoed his vote for Air and Space (I've been there several times already). Luckily, he is very patient and is a good sport and he even responded once or twice.

So, through the miracle of technology, I can still be alone but I can still share the joy, some of the decisions and...(blurry photos of) a strange meal in a strange place at a strange time.

Do you travel by yourself? What is your favorite/least favorite part of traveling alone? Who is your faraway text buddy when you have something to share?

Cherry Blossom: Pros and Cons

Yesterday I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race in Washington DC. I have been lucky enough to have been to DC several times before, so I did not feel pressured to go and see all the sights or stand in really long lines to get into the museums (the line for the Natural History was all the way down the block!) I had a great (leisurely)  day on Saturday wandering around, meeting up with these girls, checking out the "new to me" MLK Memorial and trying to find a few cherry blossoms. There were a few, but you could tell that the early warm weather and subsequent rain kind of ruined the timing for most of them. That didn't stop me from taking a bazillion photos, but that deserves a post of it's own.

PROS:

- The expo. I was in and out in 10 minutes. Everything was well signed; the volunteers were directing you to your next stop; there were plenty of bathrooms. Plus it was in the National Building Museum, which is a gorgeous old building. I didn't really check out the booths since there were so many people, but there were a ton of options!

- The commute. I got a hotel about a mile from the start line and it was SO NICE to leave only 15 minutes before I wanted to get there. Usually racing involves some kind of commute, but this one was a nice short one! It was so convenient! Even if you did not stay in the city, the metro is very handy. This is a definite plus!

The weather. It was not too hot. On the other hand, I was going to wear shorts, but opted for pants at the last minute because I am a wimp and I would rather be warm during the race than stand around freezing beforehand. It was probably about 45 - 50 degrees during the race.

- Port-a-potties. There must have been a couple hundred of those bad boys. Plus they had them along the course every couple of miles. However, this didn't stop the lines at the start from looking like this. I waited in line for 30 minutes even though I didn't even have to go when I got in line!

- The wave start. There were 6 (I think) different waves, which made for a much less confusing start. I was in the Red. Wave. Haha. The race began at 7:30 but the red wave didn't start until 7:33. The only thing about that is that the elite runners started at 7:20 and that is when they started the clock, so every time I got to a mile marker, the clock scared me a little bit. For example, at the first mile, the clock said 21 minutes or something like that. Ouch.

- The location. The race started and ended at the Washington Monument. You couldn't ask for a nicer place to run. Much of the course was along either the tidal basin or the Potomac, which meant running near water a lot of the time.

- Meeting up with the girls (mentioned above). It was so nice to finally put faces to the names. We did not get any photos. I am so bad at that.

- The bibs. They had our names on them! This is the first time I have ever had one with my name on it. It made me feel special, like I was an elite runner or something. I liked it.

- Water stops. There were a lot of them and they were nice and long. However, with all the people, I missed the first one because I was all the way over to the left and it was on the right. I noticed later there was a sign before each stop, but it didn't say which side the stop was going to be on and they did change sides.

- The website was very easy to navigate, was packed full of information and you could even watch the race on live streaming video if you wanted.

CONS:

- The crowd. There must have been 20,000 people. I really don't know how many there really were, but there were A LOT. Usually everyone spends the first mile or so finding their pace, passing a few people, getting passed by a few people...this happened for the entire 10 miles. There was never a time when I had a little bubble of space around me. It was very claustrophobic and I had a hard time maintaining a pace when I was constantly having to pass people.

- Speaking of passing people, and this is not the race management's fault, but what is up with people who get into a corral that is faster than their pace? It really irks me. This race was done on a wave start. I think my wave was 8 - 9 minute mile pace, yet clearly some of the people who I was passing at the beginning were slower than a 9 minute mile. Do people feel like they have to prove something? Like they are wimpy if they get in the correct corral? Because that is not the case! It's just that it's hard enough having to pass people that are going 2 seconds per mile slower than you; it's nearly impossible when they are going a whole minute slower. Get in the correct corral please.

- The "goodies" after the race consisted of water, Gatorade, bananas and muffins. That's it. Really, people? You can't get some better treats than that? I know that most of our race entry fees probably went to the street closures and security and stuff like that, but I expected a better spread.

- In fact, to top the above cop out, you also had to pay extra for a medal and/or a technical tee-shirt.

- The corrals (ie the wave start) were packed! I don't know how you were supposed to get into them either; I couldn't find a doorway. I ended up squeezing through the bars of the metal barrier in order to get in. And then I stood there, back to front with all my fellow runners. I guess I should have showered beforehand. 

- Not meeting up with Jill. She didn't have her phone with her and we set up a meeting spot for before the race but I didn't realize that there were going to be a million other people on the same corner, so we missed each other. Blogger meetup: fail.

Verdict? I probably will not do this race again. I bet that if you want to run in DC, there are a ton of other races which probably have just as nice of a course, but less people. It was a fun race on a nice course in a beautiful city, but I prefer smaller, more personal races. Besides, there are so many other places I need to see!

Now, an important question. On my 50 states list, where does this fall? Do I need a "50 states and a District" list? 

Have you ever been to DC? Have you ever been to a Cherry Blossom festival? Have you ever gotten a bib with your name on it?