Chicago recap with photos

So, where did I leave you? Oh, that's right...Lake Michigan and the run. I originally set out thinking I'll do maybe 35-45 min, but then it dawned on me that I had plenty of time so I decided to head out for a bit longer run, finishing almost 8 miles along the water.

Heading South it was pretty windy and I even felt pushed around a few times by the wind, but otherwise it was perfect. There were bikers, bladers and runners galore. I finally finished, stretched and did some abs and pushups before heading out for a late lunch at Jimmy Johns. Those in the middle part of the U.S. swear by it, but to me it's not much different than Subway.

Then it was on to the rehearsal at the church followed by an Italian dinner. Saturday involved a tough workout in the hotel gym, the 1 PM wedding, family get together and finally the reception from 5-1130 PM...and an after party at the bar next door. Yeah, it was a late night.

I'll let the pictures do the talking...




Groom's parents








A sweet car we saw as we were leaving the wedding








Black and white picture of the city doubled as our table assignments


Bride shows off her guns


Getting my dance on!


The end of one happy, exciting evening


As you can see, this was a beautiful weekend in Chicago. The temps were in the 60's and tights or bulky coats were NOT needed. I took over 200 photos this weekend so now it's time to edit and copy several cd's for the bride & groom, man friend's parents and a few others. Another great trip completed. Chicago might just be my favorite city to visit next to NYC. What's yours?

Eeks! I'm getting excited...

Last night we spent the evening at man friend's brother's house and hung out with a bunch of family. Everyone was drinking and talking so much that we didn't even get around to having dinner until 930PM. I can now officially say I've had Chicago style pizza. I'm not such a fan of the deep dish, but after a few glasses of wine, anything to hit the spot.

You guys, look at the place we're be staying...The Ambassador East Hotel, home of the Pump Room, an award winning restaurant that I'm sure we'll be frequenting in the evening hours.

Today we've done some running around in the city getting the groom's ring resized and refinished, dropping off decorations for the reception and gifts for the hotel guests, trying to find parking spots and what not. I'm officially in love with this city on relatively warm, sunny days!

The wedding tomorrow will be at St. Hedwig Catholic Church and the reception at Gibsons Steakhouse!

Oh, and you'll all appreciate knowing that I woke up at 5AM yesterday (about 45 minutes earlier than we needed to be up) to get a quick run in before our day of traveling. I'm just a happier camper in general when I've had a workout the day I'm flying. I hate that feeling of not knowing when your next chance might be to break a sweat. It makes me feel a little claustrophobic to tell you the truth. So, a nice brisk, dark 20 min run later, the dog and I were both pleased.

Ok, I'm off for a quick run along Lake Michigan! Yippee!

setting your intentions

I've been thinking more lately about setting my intentions and really living life the way I intend to. With the helpful nudge of a few fitness instructors over the past few weeks, bloggers who are living their dreams, and a friend who's been pondering some of life's "what if's," I was reminded that just going along without truly telling the world what I want won't get me to where I want to be.

How many of you regularly set your goals and life's intentions for that week/day/hour/moment? In yoga, I'm often reminded of how difficult it can be to focus my mind and breathe to a specific pose even in such a serene place and state of mind. But once I'm there, I know I've done the work yoga asks of me. It's not easy, but that's why they call it a practice.

In life I want to achieve the same. Instead of letting my mind and heart jump about the thousands of opportunities out there available to me and be overwhelmed by the possibilities, I want to focus my energy on that which not only brings me but my surroundings the greatest pleasure and benefit. Because of that I'm finally deciding what my future will be.

This winter I'm going to start taking a class or two and the University in subjects I'm interested in because I'm not necessarily sure if I want to get an MBA, or degrees in graphic/web design or nutrition. I also want to regularly set my intentions for a specific day or week and believe that I can achieve it. After all, life doesn't happen to you, you've gotta live it up.

I think for a while I've relied on the hope that even though I don't know where I'm going, someday I'll get there. Well, for this girl that's simply not enough. I like checking off boxes and moving closer to someone I admire and aspire to be. A few people who are living their intentions and dreams...Jess of Makeunder My Life, this girl, and Jessica of What I Wore. There are so many others, but these are just a few who have stuck in my mind as of late. Impressive ladies living their dreams.

Get out your dancing shoes!

Hey there! I finally got my butt around to having the man snag a few photos. Last night after a quick 5 miler in the cool evening with the runners, pizza night and heading home for a shower, I slipped on the dresses for a little photo shoot. Tonight I need to figure out what jewelry is coming with me. A coworker loaned me an entire jewelry box full of goodies yesterday!

I'll be wearing nylons/tights with both dresses because well, they're short and it's cold out. That's what happens when you shop in the summer for a fall wedding in Chicago and you don't think about your bare legs.

Rehearsal dinner...



The shoes...


And for the wedding attire...

I've yet to come up with an appropriate cover up, but something tells me I'm leaning toward a black cashmere wrap that I need to pick up tonight @ Macy's. I like the wrap because it's versatile and cute, while still looking dressy



Dress #1: Ann Taylor
Magenta Pashima: H & M
Shoes: Tahari via DSW
Dress #2: Donna Ricco via Macy's
Tights (not shown): Banana Republic




























And last but not least, the photographer!

Let me know what you think. I truly hope I'm not freezing my butt off, but weather.com is predicting high 40's to mid 50's with partial clouds so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Plus, we'll be inside most of the time enjoying the events.

The man asked me the other night if I'm getting nervous about what I'm wearing because I was trying on a heap of cardigans/wraps with the dresses. I replied "no, it just takes a lot of planning to make sure it looks right." I'm not even in the wedding and I can't even tell you how many hours I've spent searching, planning and thinking about this, while he just had to get his measurements taken and send them to his brother. Easy peasy!

Thursday morning we fly out so I've got a lot to do work and errands wise before then. Oh I do looove traveling! I'm not sure I'll be getting much running in so I'm trying to front load this week in with lots of running and working out. This morning was a 12 min run with the dog and 20 min with the Biggest Loser DVD.

A Real Life Betty Crocker (on occasion)

When I saw this fall inspired recipe with fairly few ingredients, I had to snag it. Then last Sunday, I promptly dragged man friend to Thistledown Farms to purchase the goods (and maybe a few homemade donuts). $20 later we left the farm with bags full of pumpkin, squash, leeks, apples, onion, garlic, carrot, etc that would serve as makings for a meat loaf (made last week), roasted pumpkin butternut squash soup AND apple crisp. Can you handle it?

So yesterday afternoon, it was high time I got to work on that pumpkin and squash. I present to you...
Roasted Pumpkin Butternut Squash Soup courtesy of Joy the Baker!

Man friend kindly helped me cut up hack through the squash and prepare it for roasting. Some serious muscles were needed. 35 minutes later...roasted.
While the squash was roasting, I prepped the apple crisp! The fabulous recipe was courtesy of Kitchen Parade!

Then removed the skins and put in the pot for a little hand mixer and vegetable broth incorporation.

Thirty minutes later, a spoonful of lovin' brown sugar and a few pinches of nutmeg later...voila!

And I topped the soup with bits of organic turkey bacon!

The apple crisp was put out to cool as we enjoyed the tasty soup!

And I even hand whipped (for about 10 min straight) some whipping cream. Now THAT will build some good biceps!

Have you ever hand whipped whipped cream? It was a first for me. It was also a first for spending three hours straight in the kitchen. But it was totally worth it. I'm seriously in love with fall and all the meals it inspires. What about you? Speaking of which, Halloween is gone, done, finito. It's only a matter of weeks before we've blown through Thanksgiving and Christmas. Crazy!

P.S. Saturday I managed a 12 miler, which was quite successful if I do say so myself. I was sore, but I pushed through mentally and physically and even got to see some early morning tailgaters and lots of USC fans. Go Ducks on the big win!

I may or may not have just eaten two cupcakes before noon.

There are worse things in life, really there are. :) And since these little beauties were made by yours truly, they can't be all THAT bad for you, right? Sure...moving on.
I'll give you a hint of what I'm wearing right now...

Any guesses? Yep, I'm the only one dressed up in my office today. But hey, as the youngest member of our staff it's safe to say I can still act like a kid once in a while, right? Growing up is overrated. Ahoy matey!

Tomorrow is a BIG college game in these parts (Oregon vs. USC) and a Halloween party with the runners! I still need to craft up a lovely dish to share with the group and convince the man friend he IS dressing up for the party. Oh men...

And if my calves and abs could not be sore for tomorrow morning's (hopefully) loooong run, that would be fabulous. Thanks again to the bootcamp class at Lifeforce Fit for kicking my butt on Wednesday! Just three weeks now until my 1/2 marathon! I'm really trying to spend some extra time doing yoga, even if that means 10 minutes in the morning after I've walked the dog, or a few downward dogs when I get home from a run. What about you? Are you making yoga/stretching a priority?

After my run, I'm headed off to a pedicure so these toes can get glammed for Chicago. That's right...we leave next week for the man friend's brother's wedding. Operation dress photo taking is happening this weekend. Check back next Monday for photos!

Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe and consume lots of sugar. You can run it off later. ;)

RW Quote of the Day

Each day an interesting, inspiring, funny or fabulous quote gets sent to my inbox courtesy of Runner's World. Today's really hit home for me, so much so that I had to share it with all of you.

"When we run, we are already so exposed, often nearly naked in our shorts and T-shirts, huffing and puffing, purified by the effort. Briefly removed from the defenses and secrets we maintain in so much of our lives, we feel less need to hide our private thoughts, loves, fears, and stresses. We share."

-Amby Burfoot, The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life

There's no doubt that when I'm with the girls, sweat dripping down our foreheads, I've definitely shared some of my deepest thoughts and fears with them. Things I couldn't bring myself to talk about if we were say just sitting down for dinner or drinks. Is running your safe place?

And when I'm out on a solo run, I often find myself lost in some of my best thoughts just listening to sounds around me and letting my mind wander as it will. What's your best thought producer? Running, reading, yoga, walking, knitting, swimming, sitting...?

fair weather runner?

Last night I left work dressed in running shorts, a tshirt and a long sleeve. As I dropped off some items to get dry cleaned it started to rain. The air was getting cooler and I didn't have running pants with me. And most importantly, I wasn't feeling the running in the rain thing.

So, instead of stopping by the store to go on a dark run with the group, I turned around and headed to the gym. I cranked out 4.5 miles on the treadmill and spent 10 min doing weights. I spent my time wondering if maybe I could get by an entire winter doing my runs inside.

Deep down, I don't think it's possible and armed with the right gear, those wet rains are just fine. But being prepared is the key. I suppose winter is almost here and now I just need to get mentally prepared for a series of soggy runs with a baseball cap, spandex pants and gloves.

Are you a fair weather runner? Do you mind using a treadmill during the winter? I don't love the treadmill, but I can manage. I even did an 11 miler once for a training run when the weather was craptastic out. Now THAT took some real dedication.