i don't know what's next...

but i know what i love--traveling, feminism, running, writing, and of course, my kitty. the love for these things will keep me going...

again

50 shots. is there really a reason?

i am disgusted. and the sadness--his wedding the next day. how horrific.

nypd, you fail to surprise me and many other new yorkers. we want you to change.

looking through photos...

i was looking through some photos on my computer and saw this one--me, darian, lindsey, and marco, having the time of our lives. notice the cheap bottles of french wine by our feet. we didn't have a corkscrew but somehow, opened the bottles and thought it was simply divine to walk around the streets of paris, passing around the bottles of wine, getting tipsy and having a blast. later, we met a latvian guy and ended up talking with him and hanging out. we had an amazing night, being so free with no curfew, no restrictions--just absolute freedom.

i know, i know, i'll be in brazil in just two and a half months, but that will be different. then i'll be gone for just 2 1/2 weeks, without time to fully explore and be free. i know i'm lucky to be able to have the time (and the money, which is thanks to my tax return of 2006!)), but still, i miss the days of absolute wanderlust.

brazil!

so i bought my tickets a few weeks ago and it's totally official--i'm going to brazil! i'm looking for hostels, have to make the visa application, am going to get the yellow fever shots soon--i can't wait! though i love my job, i definitely have itchy feet!

brazil!

so i bought my tickets a few weeks ago and it's totally official--i'm going to brazil! i'm looking for hostels, have to make the visa application, am going to get the yellow fever shots soon--i can't wait! though i love my job, i definitely have itchy feet!

this is what i look like when i run a marathon

i'm the one in the pink skirt, running with crista (pink shirt next to me)! hah!

holidays suck

i'm all for holiday songs and mistletoe and eggnog and pfeffernuese, but i can't stand holidays where you have to see family that suck, like your cousin's stupid girlfriend who proclaimed herself a vegetarian (because she rarely ate red meat, except, "oh yes, mrs. y, i'll take another piece of ham") and after a while, it's not about celebrating, it's about obligation, and it's annoying and draining and upsetting.

cherie's yummy sangria

so last night i modified wanda's delish-ma-tish sangria recipe. i highly recommend this version. everything requires you to modify to your own taste, but this is what MY taste recommended. yum!

3 bottles of trader joe's sav blanc (yep, the $2.99 one)
1 bottle (64 oz? the big one) of white grape peach juice (welch's)
three green apples, chopped
1 bag of frozen raspberries (16 oz)
several spoonfuls of sugar (realistically, probably 10, maybe more)
1 bag of green grapes, sliced in half
ice

put everything in a big pitcher (or several pitchers, as i did. if you don't have several pitchers, go to the 99cent store or use your blender!). stir. add ice to glass and have your guests pour. some like more fruit than others.

drink up. now you can look like me! hah!

fashion faux pas

i had a fashion faux pas party last night. here are the ingredients:
bad fashion
too much blue eyeshadow
lots of sangria
equals
loads of fun

i generally enjoy my parties. none of my friends know each other so it's an interesting combination of people, and everyone is suddenly myspace friends. i can't believe i broke down and got myspace, but it's seriously just for my friends. as much as i love soulslinger, he and i are not friends; he is simply one of my face djs.

i feel i must point out that my outfit was made up of designer clothes. the silver top was from my (ex?)boyfriend, the yellow dress is betsy johnson as is the skirt (all plastic, comfy, ha!). quite fun. i think crista's "i got lost on my way home from dance class in 1986" outfit rocked. check her out!

pictures from halloween

I was a lion! ROAR!

memorable moments of the marathon

• hearing the rocky theme song in brooklyn
• "i like your hair." "go pink skirt!" (towards me)
• being handed a bottle of water, drinking it, and then looking to see a jay-z label on the bottle
• "what's that all over your face? salt?" my mom, post-marathon
• being so dizzy i'm forced to grab onto a spectator for a moment
• the absolute ROAR upon entering central park for that last stretch into the finish line
• the absolute ROAR upon exiting the 59th st bridge
• 1st ave; the people--dizzying!
• finishing and having a packet of salt poured into my mouth--yuck!
• candice in the bronx! yay!
• the man handing out soda on the willis ave bridge
• a man pushing me, and me tripping and accidentally tripping a woman because of this--who yelled, "get away from me!" i ran sideways, and then past her.
• shouting at quiet hipsters (who probably didn't hear me) in williamsburg, "if you're gonna raise the rents, raise your voices!"
• listening to trev's brother who is normally quiet (around me) scream my name
• finishing. finishing. FINISHING!
  

nyc marathon

so i finally ran the nyc marathon on sunday, november 5. it was a day i have looked forward to for months--and this was truly a day of celebration.

for months i have trained hard--i never missed a day of training (unless i was injured). i slept good, ate good, and didn't drink the month before the marathon. i stretched, saw my podiatrist when i was injured, read about marathoning, lived the marathon. and finally...it came.

saturday i continued my cycle of carbo-loading with crista, and went to bed at 9pm. we woke up at 4:30 am. i fixed my hair, toasted our bagels that we slathered with peanut butter, stressed, got ready...into a car at 5:15, on a bus at 5:30, at fort wadsworth park before 6am...and to wait. we waited in the cold, stressing, jogging, stretching, waiting in line to pee. "boston, here we come..." we hoped.

shortly after 10:10, the race started. discarded clothes littered the sides of the verazzano as we ran! oh yes, we ran! excited, "we're doing this!"

and down the verazzano into brooklyn, my home boro! i adore 4th avenue--the crowds, the people! "i love you brooklyn!" i ran, i ran. crista's shins hurt so i ran without her for several miles--and i won't dare say "i ran alone" b/c i ran with nearly 39,000 others! after seeing my mom around mile 8, crista popped up next to me! we ran the next 9 miles together, through williamsburg (hi crista's mom and sister! hi trevor and damon!), into greenpoint (rachelle! natasha! i missed cara!) and long island city (hi kathleen!) and then, i started getting appalling dizzy...and i kept up, and finally, on the 59th street bridge, i let crista run ahead, but kept still on our good pace (we were on pace for a 3:36).

when i got off the bridge, the roar of the spectators kept me going, despite the fact that i felt dizzy and nauseas. i saw my parents, the spectators roared--and i ran on. sponge bob sponge, ahhhh, so cooling. power gel, YUM! i was running strong...

and hit the willis ave bridge and started feeling worse. a man handing out cups of coca-cola on the bridge--ugh. i ran on--and saw candice and her awesome sister sheryl--happy to see them, i smiled big...

and ran on. dizzy, it got worse. i ran back into manhattan, down 5th ave. i smiled weakly at the bands, reached for a bottle of water, drank, felt dizzy. i ran, feeling delirious, in a fog. i ran. i ran.

at one point, i grabbed one of the 2.5 million spectators. "please. i'm so dizzy. i'm going to hold onto you. i'm so so dizzy." and i held onto this complete stranger and then said, "i'm okay." i walked about 5 or 10 feet, then began running again.

and running. slower, yes, but still, strong.

and i finished.

i finished.

i finished.

with a personal best (though neither crista nor i qualified for boston), i headed to the medics who poured salt down my throat and powerade (which i prefer to gatorade!) and stumbled to my friends, family, and brownies. (the brownies my mom made.)

a hard race, which i trained for months.

now, what next? la? perhaps. we'll see.

i tried to run yesterday but couldn't make it around the blog. i am to run tomorrow.

and run, and run, and run.

and run.