Your Questions Answered
Overall, it was a successful weekend for sure! After the mouse disaster (Jonah Bell caught the mouse and I had to throw it away...yuck), I was on my way to Portland to see a few high school friends for the weekend. I took with me a yummy batch of oatmeal raisin cookies. Unfortunately, the friends weren't eating many sweets (one of them had given up sweets for lent), so I had a fair share to myself. ;)
Saturday morning, J and I headed out to theWildwood Trail for a 90 min hilly, muddy trail run. It was tough and pretty mucky, but we made it! I just hope I'll be ready for that 15.5 miler in four short weeks. After a shower and some fuel (homemade sandwich), we met up with T for a little shopping downtown.
I'm trying to be better about spending on clothes because let me tell you, I can get out of hand sometimes. We headed to Lululemon where I hoped to exchange some yoga pants I didn't love and get a new sports bra. Mission accomplished: I got a pair of their Groove Crops with a fun orange/pinkish waist band and a teal all sport bra. I'll be back in the near future with a product review for ya!
Next, we stopped at a few boutiques and then hit up Nordstrom so T could make an exchange. And being Miss Responsible, I walked out of Nordstrom with not a single purchase! My wallet was all the happier. We were all getting a little hungry so I suggested we walk around the corner to Flying Elephants Delicatessen where they have some gourmet eats...mouthwatering baked goods, fresh local salads, sandwiches, coffee, wine, soups, juices, etc. We all settled on salads. Mine had hazelnuts, gorgonzola cheese, grapes, apples and raspberry vinaigrette all on top of spinach.
Tired from all that shopping, we decided to call it a day and head back to J's house to watch a riveting game of curling, beer and homemade pizza for din din. This morning we were up early and went for an easyish 35 min trail run before taking the dogs and ourselves on a nice walk at this 1,000 acre park just out of town. Weather was in the high 50s and perfect for a nice stroll with the pups. This hint of sun is making me ready for serious shorts and flip flop weather!
And finally, your questions answered!
1. Are you from Oregon? If so, what area? And would you ever consider moving away?
Yes, I'm an Oregonian. Born halfway between Portland and Eugene. I've always been a Northwest girl. Although, I love love love the Northwest and how mild the weather is here (allowing you to do almost anything year round), I've definitely considered moving.
A few of my favorite places in the U.S. (that I've considered living in) include:
*San Francisco (the food, the winery, the scenery, big city living)
*Colorado (skiing, mountains, outdoorsy opportunities, laid back living)
*Nashville (I love the city, the people and country music.)
*Boston (never been there, it just holds a special place in my heart. I want to visit! And doesn't Michael Phelps live there? ;) )
*Chicago (the windy city stole my heart on two warm weekends. lake, running, biking, big city. i've yet to experience the wind and snow in Chi town.)
2. Have you always been a runner?
More or less. My mom shoved me out of the mini van crying in 4th grade to go to soccer practice and the rest was history. Turns out, I liked running and kicking the ball really hard (and the boys flirting with you on a coed team wasn't bad either). But really, I didn't get into running seriously until high school when one of my good friends, Jess, convinced me to run long distance with her. I wasn't fast by any means (8-8:30 pace), but we were constantly running hills and challenging runs that taught me a lot of mental strength. And coming in last during most high school meets didn't hurt either. :)
Then in college, I joined our club women's lacrosse team, which required a lot of sprinting and running (much like soccer, but in the air w/ sticks and small hard balls). The year after college, I saw an ad in Runner's World for the Country Music 1/2 Marathon and thought "I've always wanted to visit Nashville. I could train to run 13 miles. I should do it!" So I signed up, my mom took her first plane ride since she was 12 and I ran my first (of soon to be many) half marathons! Just six months later I ran my first full marathon in Portland, OR!
3. Have you ever lived outside of Oregon? If you moved to the East Coast, where would you go/why?
I've never lived outside of Oregon. Originally, I wanted to move FAR away from the west coast for college...like NY. But it quickly became clear that the tuition and flights just to visit weren't quite in my parents' budget. So, I went to the UO just 45 min away from home. But far enough so the parents couldn't just drop on by my dorm to say hi!
Well, if I moved to the east coast I would want to go to Boston or DC, even though I've never been to either. I did visit NYC back in November 2006 when my friend Laura from college was interning for Kate Spade. Those six days there were absolutely amazing. The city was breathe taking. From the Brooklyn Bridge, to the orange, yellow and red leaves in Central Park, to the twinkle lights around the city, to the pure hustle and bustle of life, I was in awe. But I quickly realized that to live there and really enjoy what the city has to offer, you'd need some kind of amazing job or 10 roommates to maintain a shoebox sized apartment in Manhattan.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them! It was fun answering. I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! I don't know about you, but I'm kind of glad the Olympics are over. While I really enjoyed it, it's hard not to be tied to the tube every night when you feel like you should be in the know on everything that's going on. Wow, February just flew by. I can't believe tomorrow is March 1!
Saturday morning, J and I headed out to theWildwood Trail for a 90 min hilly, muddy trail run. It was tough and pretty mucky, but we made it! I just hope I'll be ready for that 15.5 miler in four short weeks. After a shower and some fuel (homemade sandwich), we met up with T for a little shopping downtown.
I'm trying to be better about spending on clothes because let me tell you, I can get out of hand sometimes. We headed to Lululemon where I hoped to exchange some yoga pants I didn't love and get a new sports bra. Mission accomplished: I got a pair of their Groove Crops with a fun orange/pinkish waist band and a teal all sport bra. I'll be back in the near future with a product review for ya!
Next, we stopped at a few boutiques and then hit up Nordstrom so T could make an exchange. And being Miss Responsible, I walked out of Nordstrom with not a single purchase! My wallet was all the happier. We were all getting a little hungry so I suggested we walk around the corner to Flying Elephants Delicatessen where they have some gourmet eats...mouthwatering baked goods, fresh local salads, sandwiches, coffee, wine, soups, juices, etc. We all settled on salads. Mine had hazelnuts, gorgonzola cheese, grapes, apples and raspberry vinaigrette all on top of spinach.
Tired from all that shopping, we decided to call it a day and head back to J's house to watch a riveting game of curling, beer and homemade pizza for din din. This morning we were up early and went for an easyish 35 min trail run before taking the dogs and ourselves on a nice walk at this 1,000 acre park just out of town. Weather was in the high 50s and perfect for a nice stroll with the pups. This hint of sun is making me ready for serious shorts and flip flop weather!
And finally, your questions answered!
1. Are you from Oregon? If so, what area? And would you ever consider moving away?
Yes, I'm an Oregonian. Born halfway between Portland and Eugene. I've always been a Northwest girl. Although, I love love love the Northwest and how mild the weather is here (allowing you to do almost anything year round), I've definitely considered moving.
A few of my favorite places in the U.S. (that I've considered living in) include:
*San Francisco (the food, the winery, the scenery, big city living)
*Colorado (skiing, mountains, outdoorsy opportunities, laid back living)
*Nashville (I love the city, the people and country music.)
*Boston (never been there, it just holds a special place in my heart. I want to visit! And doesn't Michael Phelps live there? ;) )
*Chicago (the windy city stole my heart on two warm weekends. lake, running, biking, big city. i've yet to experience the wind and snow in Chi town.)
2. Have you always been a runner?
More or less. My mom shoved me out of the mini van crying in 4th grade to go to soccer practice and the rest was history. Turns out, I liked running and kicking the ball really hard (and the boys flirting with you on a coed team wasn't bad either). But really, I didn't get into running seriously until high school when one of my good friends, Jess, convinced me to run long distance with her. I wasn't fast by any means (8-8:30 pace), but we were constantly running hills and challenging runs that taught me a lot of mental strength. And coming in last during most high school meets didn't hurt either. :)
Then in college, I joined our club women's lacrosse team, which required a lot of sprinting and running (much like soccer, but in the air w/ sticks and small hard balls). The year after college, I saw an ad in Runner's World for the Country Music 1/2 Marathon and thought "I've always wanted to visit Nashville. I could train to run 13 miles. I should do it!" So I signed up, my mom took her first plane ride since she was 12 and I ran my first (of soon to be many) half marathons! Just six months later I ran my first full marathon in Portland, OR!
3. Have you ever lived outside of Oregon? If you moved to the East Coast, where would you go/why?
I've never lived outside of Oregon. Originally, I wanted to move FAR away from the west coast for college...like NY. But it quickly became clear that the tuition and flights just to visit weren't quite in my parents' budget. So, I went to the UO just 45 min away from home. But far enough so the parents couldn't just drop on by my dorm to say hi!
Well, if I moved to the east coast I would want to go to Boston or DC, even though I've never been to either. I did visit NYC back in November 2006 when my friend Laura from college was interning for Kate Spade. Those six days there were absolutely amazing. The city was breathe taking. From the Brooklyn Bridge, to the orange, yellow and red leaves in Central Park, to the twinkle lights around the city, to the pure hustle and bustle of life, I was in awe. But I quickly realized that to live there and really enjoy what the city has to offer, you'd need some kind of amazing job or 10 roommates to maintain a shoebox sized apartment in Manhattan.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them! It was fun answering. I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! I don't know about you, but I'm kind of glad the Olympics are over. While I really enjoyed it, it's hard not to be tied to the tube every night when you feel like you should be in the know on everything that's going on. Wow, February just flew by. I can't believe tomorrow is March 1!
Comments
It was super interesting reading your answers to the questions! I have to admit, I've been very jealous of the weather you seem to have down there! Haha
It's definitely not easy to walk out of Nordstrom, bagless. nice work :) glad you gals had another fun weekend!
Sues
Sounds like you had a fun weekend. I did pretty well on the shopping front as well. Got a couple of things but didn't go crazy!!
I visited my friend in NYC last spring and felt the same way about the city. Absolutely loved it but know it's not practical for me to live there!