That's What Friends Are For

 My long time BFF Jamie lives in NYC, and while I love NYC, I don't get out there nearly as much as I'd like.  She's had a rough 2012.  Family drama, breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, moving, and so on...  So I decided it was time to pull out all the stops for her 30th birthday and make my way, unbeknownst to her, to the big apple. Luckily for me, she is still friendly with her ex-bf and he was more than willing to be my accomplice in getting me to NYC, into her apartment (hello! he overnighted me a copy of her apartment keys), and to her office with out her knowing. Muhahaha!!

First stop: NYC Bagel & Shmear

One direct flight later I was making my way from the airport to her apartment in Astoria.  While I was able to smuggle crepe paper and streamer and signs and balloons in my carry on, I thought TSA might oppose to helium.  

Side note: TSA didn't seem the least bit intrigued by the 100 balloons I had in my carry on, but did stop me to inspect my bun because of the bobby pins holding it in place...random.

A little research showed me that there was a party supply store a few blocks from Jamie's place. Score! And much to my complete astonishment, things were actually cheaper there than here in Madison. Double Score!!  20mins later I was making my way back to Jamie's apartment, in the wind and rain, with two-dozen helium balloons in tow.  I was dodging trees and fences and angry NY'ers just hoping that everything made it back in one piece...Don't worry, me and all 24 balloons made it.

By now it's noon'ish so I had to get my butt in gear.  I knew that, allowing for get lost time, I needed to leave her place at 5 to make it into Manhattan to her office by 6, which meant I needed to start getting ready around 4, which only left me 4hrs to decorate and nap. Decorating, in the heat and humidity that NYC calls summer, was not as easy as planned.  Tape didn't want to stick, balloons fought back, and I was a sweaty mess by the time it was all said and done!!  It will shock know one that after the decorating was accomplished I took a nap, sans pants, in front of the fan.

The final product.

After my pant-less power nap I had to think creatively to turn this midwestern gal into a sophisticated New Yorker. Who am I kidding. I totally stood out.  But I didn't get lost, I didn't have to ask for directions and I navigated it all in heels. FTW.

I roll into Jamie's office around 5:45 and convince the receptionist to call her up to the front desk without telling her it's me.  Sneaky, sneaky.  So Jamie comes up there, expecting a package, on her cell phone to find me.  And what does the stinker do? Continue her conversation on the phone. Granted it was a mutual friend, and she was talking about how confused she was that I was there, but still!

Eventually she got off the phone, gave me a hug, and the giggling and gossiping commenced.

From there we went to meet 20 or so her fancy NYC gals out a a nearby restaurant for apps and drinks. The restaurant messed up the reservation, so rather than have the roomy prime party table upstairs, we ended up squished into a little booth/room downstairs.  Not the best for conversation, but the food was tasty and the cocktails were delicious. Regardless of the minor setback, I'd say fun was had by all--especially the birthday girl.

                             

                             BIRTHDAY GIRL!!

Best Birthday Present EVER!

I was only in town for a few days, and seeing as Jamie had no idea I was coming, she had to work.  C'est la vie--NYC has plenty a girl can do!

I spent Thursday afternoon roaming Manhattan with a friend of Jamie's--running errands, window shopping, going for lunch.  Thursday night someone had a hangover, Jamie, so we laid low. We went for dinner at a nearby restaurant and then proceeded to watch hours of the Olympics in our pajamas. Not a bad way to spend an evening with the BFF you rarely get to see.

Friday I spent much of the day being lazy hanging out with her cats, lovingly nicknamed Moo and Roach.

 

                        

                             Roach

Moo

That night we gorged ourselves on sushi before meeting my accomplice/her ex-bf for beers at the Astoria Beer Garden.  BTW, this beer garden is pretty much the coolest place ever.  Great beer selections, good food, both of which are reasonably priced, and they were showing the Olympics on an absolutely gigantic jumbotron outside.  

The next morning I had my third, and final NYC bagel of the trip, and headed home.

A whirlwind trip, but worth every bit of it.  <3 font="font">

C'est la vie: RnR New Orleans Recap

The short of it: It didn't go as planned, but 2:29:44 we were it done.

The long of it:

The flight there was easy. In and out of Milwaukee to save some $$. Manageable layover in ATL, which I am happy to say we made (#FTW) and Delta was even sweet enough to upgrade us for our final leg. Weeee. Complimentary cocktail? Yes, please. Anything I want from the snack basket? I should probably take a look. Another cocktail? Don't mind if I do.

And just like that, we were there.

We arrived in the Big Easy around midnight Thursday night, Friday morning (whatever). We checked into our hotel, which was in the hear of the French Quarter just 2 blocks off of Bourbon St. The last time I was down here I stayed near the Riverwalk, which was quieter and cheaper, but not as close to the fun. We were suppose to share the room with a friend of ours...but that fell through (on Friday) and stuck us with a hefty hotel bill. Really nothing we could do at that point. But I digress. After checking into the hotel we decided to stretch our legs on Bourbon Street.

I was mesmerized by the neon.

Are people actually bribed by beads to show their goodies? Does that work?

One of the few places twinkle lights are appropriate year-round.

Friday brought daylight, which meant a short shake-out run and some site-seeing. We headed out for an easy 3-miler around the french quarter around noon. It was a swamp 70-some degrees. To go from running in the dry 40's and 50's to the humid mid-70's was a shocker, not that I'm complaining. Just sweating. A lot. And I was pleasantly surprised by how good I felt despite flying the night before and the humidity. We showered and headed out to check out the French Quarter, find some lunch and pick up our packets.

Local music on Royal Street.

The rest of the gang, that made it to race day, arrived Friday evening. Renee, Maureen, and Kelsey, 3 of the fabulous ladies I met running Ragnar Chicago last summer. A flurry of text messages later, we were all at the same place, at the same time. Dinnah! We enjoyed an assortment of New Orleans classics, including hurricanes, before hitting the street.

Maureen, Kelsey, and Renee

Saturday we slept in before seeking out beignets at the word-famous Cafe Du Monde.

One word: YUM!

After shaking off the powdered shugar we headed back to the expo to take advantage of the registration discounts. Yes, I was seduced by a $15 discount and a t-shirt into registering for not one, but two more Rock n'Roll races: RnR Half Chicago (July) and RnR St. Louis Half (October). Let's not talk about it.

Saturday ended with a small tweet-up of ladies at a downtown restaurant. One of the N'awlins locals organized a little face-to-face time for us to meet and carbo-load. The service was terrible, but the company was good. Unfortunately something I ate did not sit well with me. At all. Wyatt ate the same thing so I don't think it was the food poisoning, but I do know that whatever I ate gave me the worst gut-rut I've had in a looooong time. We walked back from the restaurant and were in bed by 9pm.

The culprit...

Despite being in bad at 9pm, sleep evading me until well after midnight. And then I was up again around 2:30, asleep sometime after 3:30, alarm went off at 5:15. Major sleep fail. I woke up feeling crampy and bloated from the night before, but thought I'd be ok if I ate something.

Breakfast in bed.

After a quick breakfast we were dressed and off to the start line. I had had a bit of a meltdown the night before about what to wear and the weather, but walking the half mile to start was a great warm up and the weather was turning out to be perfect. We navigated the bag-drop, snagged some water and found our coral. About 20-after-7 our wave was finally up and we were off!

The first few miles were crowded, but I was running 10min/miles and feeling pretty good. I couldn't shake the bloated, gut rot, grossness from the night before, but my legs felt ok. We ran the first 5k in 31mins and change and I knew I was on pace for my goal time of 2:15.

Around mile 3 1/2 we decided to stop at the porta-potties. The way my stomach felt it was an inevitable stop as some point so we decided early was as good as ever. We waited in line for what felt like forever, duked into our respective pots and (tried to) take care of business. All in all this detour cost us just over 7 minutes, which I quickly realized I was not going to be able to make up...

After the 7min break we were off and running at a 10min/mile pace again. I was feeling myself become more and more bloated and uncomfortable as I ran, but my legs and cardio felt good so I kept pushing. Around mile 6 or so I untied my pants which were suddenly feeling too tight, despite being a size too big. Another mile of so later I loosened my fuel belt. And by mile 8 I was starting to feel really gross. I drank water when it was available, took in a little gatorade, and took one of my Hammer Gels. Despite my best efforts I knew my pace was slowing dramatically. At that point I knew if we kept the pace in the low to mid 10's we would still come in under 2:20. Around mile 10 I started to realize that the pace had slowed even more and 2:20 was going to be close, but still doable.

And then things got really uncomfortable.

What had been bloated discomfort became searing pains in my lower stomach. Walking didn't help. Stopping didn't help. Nothing seemed to make the stomach pains go away. Ugh. The last few miles were awful. Mentally I was down on myself because I had trained for a much better race. Physically my stomach was protesting and my right foot was starting to get sore. My bad attitude was getting worse by the second and I was ready to be done.

Before, after and the bling.

We finished in 2:29:44 ad were glad to be done. Water, gatorade, a banana, finisher pics and off to the shuttle.

Back to the hotel for showers and naps. A few hours later, feeling marginally better, we headed out to find po'boys and take in a little culture.

Rumored to be the best po'boys in the French Quarter.

Apparently weddings in N'awlins come with a parade!

Definitely one of the highlights if the trip. <3

After an afternoon of walking and taking in the sights we headed back to the hotel to pack and relax before our last dinner in New Orleans.

Farewell cocktails.

All in all, a great time was had in New Orleans. I saw friend, ate some po'boys (yum), drank some huricanes (double yum), ran a little and relaxed a little. The sunshine and weather were perfect and a much needed break from the dreary WI weather. Rumor has it we have to go back next year to vindicate ourselves, but we'll see...

RnR NOLA, The Good:

-Efficient, organized packet pick up (go early!!)

-Organized start and bag drop

-Well planned, fun course

-Plenty of water, etc. spaced out on the course

-Great entertainment

-Perfect weather

-Post-race shuttles were AWESOME!

RnR NOLA, The Bad:

-Corals not well enforced

-Course was incredibly crowded

-Not enough porta-potties on the course

-Bottleneck at the finishline

-Michelobe Ultra, really? Ick.

Overall I would definitely recommend the race and am glad we went. Now if only I could have used all of the pro's the race had to offer to my advantage...

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!

Top 10 of 2010

2010 had it's lows, and by lows I mean ass-kicking, gut-wrenching, super-duper-sucking lows, but it also had it's highs. It's true that what goes down must come back up, er, however that cliche saying goes.

But before I look to 2011 and share my thoughts and goals for the new year, I thought I should post the obligatory Top 10 of 2010 post. If not for your perusal and enjoyment, than to remind myself that 2010 wasn't too shabby.

Without further ado, in chronological order.....the Top 10 of 2010!

10. On March 15th 2010 we brought home all 10lbs of furry, tail-wagging, butt-wiggling joy, Ladybug! She's been part of our family for almost a year now, and despite the time or 10 that Wyatt threaten to give her back, she has been a love!

9. The beginning of April took me to DC for work, which in itself is nothing to write home about. But when your BFF takes the bus down from NYC to meet you for the afternoon, attention must paid! Not only did the BFF make a cameo appearance, but we had the chance to hang out with a few college friends and see the sites with locals.

8. June brought surgery for me, and mountain bike racing for the guys. Not even crutches could keep me from tagging along as the official "in case of emergency" contact and cheering section.

7. Once off crutches Wyatt and I embraced the mini-break, and took long weekends to the Twin Cities and the Windy City. 4-star hotels, restaurants, shows like the Blue Man Group, and leisurely strolls along the lakefront and river, it was fabulous to break up the summer with a trip here and there.

6. Biking! The few months of nice weather we have here in Madison would not be complete without biking. We are now the proud owners of an Xtracycle Free Radical (awesome!!). It served as my chariot while I was on crutches, and later in the season it was out grocery-getting, picinic-going, farmer's market-going station wagon.

Did I mention the Pinglespeed got some mileage too?!? Woot!

5. Arguably the most memorable moment of the year, and number 1 in my heart for 2010, on September 11th 2010 Wyatt closed down an entire state park to propose to me.

September 2011 we will be Mr & Mrs!!

Sigh.

Tear.

Squeeee!!

4. Later in September we headed down to Vegas for Interbike for work, followed by a few days of vacation and debauchery. And the cherry on top? My BFF joined us! Wyatt had his hands full keep track of not one, but two Vegas virgins.

The Palm, Cirque du Soliel, Peep Show, 3 Tiffany's locations, Ceaser's Palace, craps, the Playboy Club, and oh so much more!

3. Early November had me heading to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater...and as it was Wyatt's birthday, I brought him along. While I worked the event (booo), Wyatt's days were filled with sleeping in, long walks on the beach, seashell collecting, and general relaxation. In the evenings we did have the chance to meet up with another coworker of ours, see some friends and eat some delicious food. All in all, not a bad lil work trip.

2. November 20th we celebrated our engagement with our closest friends by throwing a little shindig at the local brew pub. Wings, cupcakes, beer, wonderful company, and an embarrassing toast made for a memorable and wonderful evening.

1. Every year we make it our mission to make it to at least one Badger game. Being a UW alum, these games are very near and dear to me. This year we were at the season closer, where the Badgers officially tied as Big 10 Champs and sealed the deal on a trip to Pasedena.

Storming the field was a must!

So there you have it, the Top 10 of 2010. Now that it's been posted I can officially close the 2010 chapter and focus on 2011.

The Windy City

The last week of July had been set aside for vacation, since well last summer. We debated between RAGBRAI and Glacier National Park...but decided that roadtripping, hiking, backpacking, biking and camping was the way to go. Really no contest in my opinion, but Wyatt is not the camper that I am. Anywho. Obviously this whole foot thing pretty much put the kibosh on that adventure. And it's not like, given my handi-capable state, RAGBRAI was an option. I was bummed to say the least. No racing, no running, no vacation in 2010. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

I should also mention that I burned through a large portion of my vacation time with surgery so I did even have the time to take. Double grumble.

We decided to take a few long weekends this year and spread out the vacation time as best we could. Thus Katie and the mini-break were united!

Our first mini-break was this past weekend as we headed down to the windy city for 3 days. In all truth it was more like 2 1/2 by the time we hit the road on Friday, but we were on vacation so sleeping in and being lazy is totally acceptable. We left, um, noon-ish. What we weren't anticipating was siting in traffic for-ev-er. Seriously, the GPS said 2 1/2 hours, allowing for traffic and incidentals, we assumed 3'ish. But 5? No way. It was definitely a trying experience. Wyatt, who was just down in Chi-town during the week for work was having none of this. Crabby doesn't begin to explain the mood of the car.

We got down there and settled into the hotel around 5-530. We had booked a room online and didn't really know a whole lot more about it. Turns out the Sax hotel was super swank and very cool. It was next door to the House of Blues, a few blocks off Michigan Ave and just generally in hip little corner of downtown. We checked in to find out that Kidd Rock's official after party was in their hotel bar/lounge that night. Woah. Not that we are big Kidd Rock fans or anything, but it was still cool to see a little red carpet outside the hotel and the excitement associated. Our room had huge windows, a big clean comfy bed (not something you find at the area Red Roof Inn, now is it W?) and bathrobes! I've never stayed in the kind of fancy-schmancy hotel that provides soft snuggly bathrobes for their guests, so pardon my excitement.

Friday night, given the time we arrived, was the perfect time to wander Michigan Ave and take in the sights and shops. Burberry and Louis Vuitton and Tiffany's, OH MY! I gingerly stroked (to be read as manhandled) the classic Burberry raincoat, I ogled the fine smocks that LV had on displayed, and I channeled my inner girly-girl and and sappy at Tiffany and Co. Le sigh.

We attempted to grab a bite to eat nearby, but everything has a 2+ hour wait. INSANE! My empty tummy was having no part of that. We opted to take a 5min cab ride just a wee bit down the rode to a pizza place and were greeted with a much more manageable wait. Success!

We wrapped up the night with a cocktail at Dick's Last Resort and called it a night around 11 or so.

Saturday we got up at the crack of noon and went in search of food. Wyatt had an inkling, nay an obsession with, to find a restaurant from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The closest diner/breakfast spot, the Steak and Egger, was a 10 or so minute drive southwest of downtown. Off we went. What did we run into along the way? A giant street festival, Fiesta del Sol if I recall, in a hispanic part of town. We should've known we were in trouble when the cabby advised us to take the cab company's number as cab's didn't come out that way. We grabbed some brunch, Wyatt thought his was super tasty, mine not so much. We wondered the festival which was hoppin' for it being only like 2pm, and decided to call for a cab.

An hour and 3 phone calls later we still were without transportation. Fuuuuuuck. We consulted the iPhone for the nearest train or bus stop, but the real life saver was the gentleman who recognized us for the lost gringos that we were. He directed us to the nearby stop and even advised what line to take.

We continue to wait...

Once we figured out the "L" system tho getting around Chi-town was a breeze (and cheap!!)

After all was said and done, and that little adventure was behind us, we headed straight to the MCA which is my all time favorite museum. There was a pretty cool Calder exhibit, a new curation of the permanent collection and we even got be art!

Dressed up after our performance.

Our visit to the MCA even left enough time to stop back by Tiffany's. Oh how I love that store! (For the record, I blame my mom for inundating me with fabulous classic movies for creating this monster,)As Holly Golightly once said...I don't want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together. I'm not sure where that is but I know what it is like. It's like Tiffany's. Left unsupervised I may or may not have made my way to the extra sparkly and out of the budget section. And I may or may not have been busted trying on extra sparkly rights on my left hand. I don't know what to tell you other than I'm not sorry.

On the way back to the hotel we noticed masses of people congregating and gawking. Of course we went over to investigate, who do you think we are? What did we stumble on while on mini-break? It was Transformers 3 filming 3 blocks from our hotel. Wyatt just about peed his pants. OMG! Transformers! Robots! Explosions! WOAH!! They were filming a scene where Transformers, presumably the Deceptacons were coming across the Wabash St bridge and just generally tearing things up. It was like a kid in a candy store. Wyatt was so so soooo excited.

Eventually we bid adieu to Optimus Chicago and made made our way back to the hotel. We changed for dinner and headed just a wee bit south to a great Mexican restaurant. The food was good, the drinks were ah-mazing, but the service was awful! Ah well, you can't win 'em all. We got of there and hopped the train to Wriggleyville to check out the Blue Man Group, which Wyatt can only describe as rad. Totally rad. It was midnight-ish and i was too pooped to par-tay so we headed back to the hotel for another blissful mini-break night of zzz's.

But not before we stopped back at the Transformer set to see everything in the moonlight. One of the security/production assistants was handing out the shells from the epic fight scene they had been filming. Wyatt got 2. I think he is still carrying them around with him...

Sunday we got up early, um 1030ish, and decided to wander the riverwalk and enjoy the weather. We walked down to the lakefront, almost to Navy Pier and eventually grabbed a bite to eat at the Chicago Burger Co. Not too shabby.

Lunch on the river before heading home.

We called it quits and headed home around 3 or so. I wish it didn't have to end but we were both pooped and ready to start the drive home.

I definitely recommend a weekend in Chicago! It was great to park the car and just wander and explore from there. Even Wyatt, a non-Chicago fan, had a great time and wants to go back. So IronBri, what are you waiting for?!? I'll meet you in the windy city!

There are so many more things I could tell you about the weekend and why I love Chicago. Not quite pack my bags and move there love, that's reserved for NYC, but it a fabulous city I'd visit any time.