Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Massages, Martinis and MTB'ing

And sushi. And sake.

Also know as a trip to Milwaukee.
Also known as Our Valentine's Extravaganza.
Related: I'm a kick-a$$ fiancé!

So for Valentine's Day I decided to plan a little mini-break to Milwaukee. We had something we had to do in Madison on the morning, for the life of me I cannot remember what it was, but then Saturday afternoon we headed to Milwaukee for a relaxing weekend at The Pfister Hotel. Nothing says I Love You like a swanky hotel room, right? Er...

Anyways. The catalyst for this mini-break was actually a trip to the spa. Seeing as the local spa of choice was booked solid, I decided Milwaukee was the next logical place. It didn't hurt that a coworker of ours was having a birthday shindig at Ray's on Sunday. And lucky for me, my favorite hotel has an awesome spa in the basement, the Well Spa. Score! It was on like Donkey Kong for Hamman Showers and massages. Not to mention mimosas, chocolate covered strawberries, fresh fruit...I was in heaven! Pampered, chocolate covered, intoxicated heaven! If you have the chance to stop in there for a little TLC I highly recommend it. The staff was wonderful, the rooms and amenities were fabulous, and the massage was excellent!

I left dinner up to W for the night, which is HUGE for me because I hate surprises. Hate them! We ended up going around the corner from The Pfister to an Asian-fusion restaurant called Umami-Moto. OMG! Drool! YUM! Ugh, I want more sushi.... That pretty much sums up my thoughts on the place. It was SOOOO good. So good. A little yuppy for me, a little crowded, maybe a little overpriced, but it was all worth it! We split a couple of appetizers, a few of their house rolls, a bottle of Mu sake, and dessert. I don't actually know what was my favorite at dinner, but the Lobster Potstickers and the Crispy Shrimp roll were to die for. And the Chocolate Peanut dessert was lick your plate delicious. Yum, yum, yum.

We ended Saturday with cocktails at Blu. Their martinis are some of the best in Milwaukee, and I kind of a die-hard martini drinker, so it was a no-brainer. Holy balls, was it busy! And the crowd there was a strange mix of young and old, casual and dressy, refined and raucous. Definitely good people watching. Needless to say I was passed out asleep within minutes of getting into bed...and I didn't even hear when W walked into the closet door thinking it was the bathroom...and he has the bump on his forehead to prove it.

Sunday it was on to Ray's MTB for a little indoor mountain biking. Eep. For a girl who hasn't mountain biked, in oh, 5+ years, I was scared. Like shaking, indigestion, almost in tears terrified!! I'll put it right out there and say I didn't even want to go. But I did. And by the time I was in the car on my way home I finally stopped shaking. W, on the other hand, was like a kid in a candy store! Obstacles, the CX course, the pump track, he was all over it I am proud to say I did dabble in the beginner's area AND I didn't even get hurt!! Winner winner, chicken dinner! Am I ready and willing to call my self a mountain biker? Absolutely not. Will I give it another shot? Sure. Maybe. We'll see.


That pretty much sums up my weekend.


Did I mention I made it to the Y for some quality "wogging" once last week? Cause I did. I win!



Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentines!

someecards.com - Nothing Steve Jobs ever creates could fully replace you in my life


My love of all things Apple would beg to differ...

Hugs and kisses to all my favorites from the blogosphere!!



*Bucket list, mountain biking, Asian Fusion, and more to come...

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Can I get a Dt Coke...

A 30 Before 30 Update.

I've officially been soda free, specifically Dt Coke free, for 1 month. Huzzah! My first thought was that as of tomorrow I can have a Dt Coke...yesssssss! Not only is it caffeinated, but it just tastes so friggin good.

Considering I didn't really replace it with anything, it was almost like going caffeine free. Almost. I still did made 2-3 cups of coffee a week, but that is no more or less than when on the Dt Coke. And seeing as I have never really been a sugary soda drinker I'm not really sure if I accomplished anything, other than self control. Hmmm, maybe there's a happy medium to be found here.

Anywho, cross that off the list!

I've also been to ass-kicking yoga workshops in January and February, which puts just a little bit closer to being a certified yoga instructor. But oh my, does it seem like this process is going to take forever. Seriously, for-ev-er. All in all it'll be less than a year form start to finish, but 1-2 20hr workshops a month PLUS practicing during the week PLUS homework and reading. Ugh. So much to do. Somehow I feel like the 3wk condensed trainings, while intense, seems like it might be the way to go. How I will come up with the $$$ and vacation time from work, I don't know. Details. But it seems like the way to go.

January AND February yoga workshops, CHECK!

I also managed to read a whole book. Granted, it was a shorter book...and nothing overly intellectual, but I read it. God that makes me sound like such an illiterate nimrod. I swear I'm not. Somewhere along the l way I just stopped reading, and that's so sad! Typically by the time I climb into bed I'm ready to go to sleep. And what use to be my reading time has long been replaced by my phone time with Wyatt when he's out of town, which is the majority of EVERY week.... But I digress. Back to the book.

I read "Oogy" by Larry Levin, and it was such a great book. It's a true story about a dog with a tragic start to life, that was given a second chance by family. Being the owner of a wonderful Pit Bull pup, rescues and misunderstood breeds are near and dear to my heart.

So um, yeah, with January in the books there have been some wins and some losses for the month. I have failed to find a place, and make contact with someone, to start volunteering. I didn't make it to the climbing gym. And for the life of me I cannot remember if I went to a new restaurant or watched a movie I've never seen before or not last month... Oh well. February is a new month!

I'm done rambling for the night. Which means maybe I'll maybe, just maybe, I'll make it to gymyet tonight.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Catch 22

Monday I went to my PT appointment with my training plan and 2011 race list in hand. I was feeling well planned and prepared. Until I got there. And my hopes and dreams were shattered. Ugh.

My PT told me she'd rather I not plan or commit to anything so that I don't feel pressured to do anything. She's afraid that if I register or commit to races I will push myself to hard, which could result in re-injury or a new injury. Realistically speaking though, injury is always a possibility. Have you met me? It just is.

If I don't commit to something how in the world am I suppose to find the motivation to get back into it? SERIOUSLY?!? Let's be honest here. I don't exercise because I like it. Let me rephrase that. I don't like exercising enough for that to be my only motivation. I need a plan, events, goals.

I'm not getting crazy aggressive here. There is no PR in my near future. There's nothing extreme. But the Couch Potato to 5k plan had to planned for someone, right? How can a couch potato be in a better position to start training for something than I am? I mean at some point in the not to distant past I was active. I ran and biked and shit. Even if I am starting over at square one, I've been there and done that before. That has to count for something. Right? RIGHT???

So without further ado, my 2011 Race Schedule:
3/13 Shamrock Shuffle
4/30 Crazy Legs 8k
5/7 Lake Monona 20k
5/29 Madison Half Marathon
6/18 High Cliff Sprint Tri
7/17 Door County Half-Iron
8/20 Madison Mini-Marathon
9/23 Sprinting down the aisle...
10/29 Haunted Hustle Half Marathon

It's possibly I will do all of these, none of these, or anything in between. Only time will tell. But I've put it out there and I'm going to do my best to get to the starting line of as many of these as possible. I may walk some, I may even DNF, but I'm going to try. Dammit.

Damn the man, save the empire!!