My Old Kentucky Home in DC

Ruck Review: GoRuck Challenge Class 1165

2014-09-14T21:55:00.000-04:00

Hello again! Sorry for this late post, but you knew that I had post a review about my first GoRuck Challenge ever! On September 12 Jill and I embarked on our very first GoRuck Challenge in honor of the fallen heroes of 9/11. Although I had made many training promises right after our GoRuck Light in July sadly I didn't do any of it. :( I don't want to say that I went to this event "cold," but let's just say I heavily relied on my crossfit training to get me by.

I was a bundle of nerves when Justin dropped us off at the mall. But we had to take a selfie beforehand. The calm before the storm if you will ;)

At first we didn't see anyone, but as we walked closer to the Smithsonian castle. We saw them. Hundreds of people all anxiously awaiting the cadre and their instructions.

Of course with any GoRuck event we kicked off with the "welcome party." A series of PT drills to get the night started off right. As soon as we began the first exercise I knew that this was nothing like the two GoRuck Lights I've done in the past. We quickly found out the Challenge is definitely not double the duration and intensity of a Light. After a hearty round of PT which included the ever famous "tunnel of love" and centipede push-ups (I still can't get the hang of those!) we split off into groups and were assigned a cadre. Ours was Cadre Luke, a fellow University of Maryland alum. :)

During a GoRuck event, you have to get to certain locations within a time cap. And of course when you don't make it to the destination in the time allowed you get penalized with PT. Obviously our first mission to the White House ended in an epic fail since we were still figuring out how to work as team.

Flutter kicks in near the White House gates? Why not?

Next we headed to the Lincoln Memorial where we did a series of partner sprints and of course more PT for those who weren't sprinting.

Serving up pain...like a boss...

We had to make our next destination so we did the last sprint up the Lincoln Memorial stairs as a team.

Now I'm not going to tell you about everything we did because each event is different and each cadre is different. And even if you get the same cadre twice, you'll still get a different experience because it all depends on what kind of mood he's in, LOL. But! I will tell you my favorite thing during our challenge was when we had to "veg" up Marine recon style ;)

And of course with every challenge, you gotta get wet!

Just flutter kicking in the Potomac River...nbd...

A shot of me dumping the water out of my ruck! It was the easist way to get all the water out without taking the backpack off.

Before I forget I must give a huge shout out to our shadow, Aaron Wyche. He followed our group from beginning to end and he was the perfect shadow! He took these amazing pictures and was always there to offer help when needed (i.e.: "Can you watch our stuff while I jump into the Potomac?"). Thanks again! :)

As the night turned to day we crossed into Virginia to visit the 9/11 Memorial by the Pentagon and then back to DC...

Carrying various team weights along the way...

Jill is always surprised how often she gets carried at these things!

We stopped by the World War II Memorial for an awesome group shot!

We were on the home stretch...

But we weren't done yet! When we got back to the starting point it was time for...you guessed it..more PT. Here are the shortest girls doing log lifts (which of course includes my sister and I). By this time I had a permanent "poopy face" on (as Cadre Luke called it), but I saw the light at the end of the tunnel and I definitely wasn't going to quit now!

Photo credit to Nick Schrein

When we finally got our patches, I was exhausted, yet happy! In my bleary-eyed sleep deprived state, I realized that this was the hardest thing that I have done in my life so far. It was difficult at times and I can't tell you how times I thought about quitting, but I'm glad I didn't.

To conclude, my sister Jill said it best on her Facebook page: "I wouldn't have been able to endure the 19 miles over 12+ hours without my team to embrace the suck with me. We suffered in silence in honor our fallen heroes who would give anything to have the ability to even feel pain. Never thought I'd be grateful for pain until now; it means you're alive. I'm not gonna lie and say it was fun, but it was good livin'!"

PS...people have asked me when I'm going to do the next one and I must say I haven't signed up for another yet. But let me know if you want to do one, I may just join you for the action ;)

Brioni Southeast Asian World Tour: Thailand - Bangkok

2014-07-14T14:01:00.000-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it's the final installment of the Brioni Southeast Asia World Tour! We splurged in Singapore, traversed through Malaysia and relaxed in Ko Samui. Now we were going to experience the large metropolitan city of Bangkok. Because our flight was so short (under an hour), we arrived in Bangkok with plenty of time to check into our hotel for the night and grab a bite to eat. With plenty of restaurant options nearby, we just walked down the street and decided on Suk 11, which had outdoor seating.

Here's Justin about to dive into our Thai dinner...

Here's a view from the Aloft Bangkok. As I had mentioned towards the tail end of my last post, we had to fly to Bangkok instead of taking a the train, as was initially planned. As a result, we arrived a day ahead of schedule, which required us to get a hotel for the night. The Aloft Hotel in Bangkok definitely wasn't as nice as some of the other Aloft Hotels that we had stayed in during other trips, but again it was only for the night.

This Aloft also had a breakfast buffet, which is something that helped get our first official day in Bangkok started off in the right direction. Like the other Aloft that we stayed at in Kuala Lumpur, the buffet offered both Western breakfast options and local breakfast options. More dumplings please!

And my plate full of fresh fruit, which included one of my favorites--dragon fruit (again!)

They even served cappuccinos, which I thought was a nice touch

After breakfast we left the Aloft Hotel and checked into the hotel that would be our residence for the rest of our stay here in Bangkok--the Maduzi Hotel. A cute boutique hotel right in the city center, the Maduzi Hotel offered more of a condo-type accommodation, with all the amenities and perks that a hotel regularly offers. Because they had no regular rooms available when we arrived to check in, we got upgraded to a suite--score!

The mini bar was stocked with complimentary beverages and snacks each day.

After checking into the Maduzi, we headed to Chatuchak Market, which is this huge weekend marketplace in Bangkok. Considering that our hotel was conveniently located within walking distance to both the nearby Skytrain and the MRT stations. we decided to use the Skytrain to get to the market. When comparing Bangkok's metro system to DC's Metro, it was amazing how organized and clean the Skytrain was!

When we arrived at the market, there was a ton of people that created an environment of bustling energy that we enjoyed. They literally had everything you could possibly want to buy! Justin and I got several items, such as vintage looking Asian beer t-shirts, dog accessories for the boys, a silk bedspread, handmade wooden frames, and even new suitcase so we could use to bring back all of our goodies! Can you believe they had a pet section at this market? Although the dogs for sale were cute, the sight of seeing them there made me a little sad (it was so hot!). A weirder sight to see at the market was a lady selling "pet" squirrels in little outfits. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture because there was a sign she posted, which did not allow for photos :(

All of this shopping was making us hungry, so we indulged ourselves in some of the market food items. They had a makeshift "food court" where you could sit and grab a bite to eat. The nearby carts would then cook your food and deliver it to your table. As expected, we got some pad thai, but we also tried these "meatballs" on skewers that had a really weird consistency to them!

That evening we just went back to our hotel and relaxed! The traffic in Bangkok is no joke and the rain didn't make things any better!

The next day we were going to hit up a bunch of the temples...WARNING! Excessive temple photo alert, LOL! ;)

A quick selfie before the full day of sightseeing ahead!

First stop, the world famous Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho)!

An alter to make offerings

I thought the mother-of-pearl feet were the coolest part!

Some up close shots of the feetsies. Look at all that detail!

This statue was huge!

Some shots of the other side of the Buddha

Next we headed to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew)

Some shots outside of the Temple. It was beautiful, but very hot!

You weren't allowed to take pictures inside of the temple where the Emerald Buddha was (it was actually pretty small compared to the Reclining Buddha), so of course we took a bunch of pictures outside.

Outside the main temple there were several smaller temples with lots of golden Buddha statues inside.

After seeing these two temples, it was time for a bite to eat! We stopped in at the cafe in the Navy Wives Association building. Here I am quenching my thirst on some fresh coconut juice. I noticed that most folks in Southeast Asia aren't too keen on drinking Gatorade and other sports drinks. Instead, they rely on fresh fruit juices that are actually much better for you!

The last stop of the day was the Grand Palace, which was the largest/longest stop of our day. As you can see from this picture, there was some military presence. Regardless of the soldiers scattered throughout the area, it was business as usual. Nothing like the martial law that Thailand was under a few months earlier.

Before we entered, we had to dress in the appropriate attire required for visiting the premises (pants for Justin, a long skirt for me). Covered legs were required to enter into the Palace grounds, and the Palace offered visitors the option to rent these articles of clothing for a refundable deposit (i.e. you get your money back when you return the article of clothing when you're finished touring the Palace grounds). Here's some signs outside of the clothing rental area. I get that people just want to make a buck, but there were swarms of swindlers outside the palace grounds just waiting to prey on naive tourists. There were even a few times that Justin and I were approached by men claiming that they were police, telling us that the Palace was closed. These guys would then propose an "alternate plan" for our sightseeing needs, often requiring us to hop into a cab that they would personally hail. Like announcements that blared from the speakers of the Grand Palace warned, we did not trust anyone, and proceeded into the palace without any of the issues these guys spoke of.

On the Palace grounds...not sure if that is Wat Saket (The Golden Mount) in the distance.

Now on to the temples! Within the Palace gates there were several temples with very ornate decorations.

All the gold inlay was truly stunning!

I loved the colored tiles because they reminded me of jewels!

Some pictures of Justin and I in our long pants and skirt that we borrowed for an hour or so...

The shape of this roof was common amongst the Buddhist temples.

Statues all around the temples

What is this? A temple for ants?! Haha..just kidding. It was just a model of a temple. Extra brownie points of you got movie reference. ;)

Seeing double!

The Thai guards immediately outside of the Palace.

A monk taking pictures, then getting in the picture.

After touring the Grand Palace, the last thing we had left to see on our list was the Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun). We were told by the concierge that the easiest way to get back to our hotel was to take a longboat tour to Wat Arun, which would then drop us off at the nearest Skytrain station. We had to get the longboat tickets at the market, and it was there that we saw these...durian! Because Justin and I had never tried nor bought durian before our trip, we decided to purchase a piece to try later (see clip below). The seller triple bagged the stinky fruit, which didn't help at all when I took it out of my purse. For a few hours, I had a purse with a distinct durian smell...

We boarded the longboat and strangely we were the only ones on board. We didn't mind the privacy, and it allowed for us to pick whichever seat we want on the boat. The "tour" took us though most of the Bangkok waterside neighborhoods.

Here's a clip of us on our tour!

In the video clip I said, "Biggie and Puffy...speedboating!" I was referring to the intro of this video...haha...not quite ;)

We also stopped by a floating market where a woman was selling some sodas, beers and snacks. She showed me this boat woman souvenir that she was selling, so of course I had to have it!

Then we circled around the Temple of the Dawn to snap some pictures right as the sun was setting.

A "We Survived!" selfie!

After grabbing some dinner, we headed back to the hotel for some down time while we planned our next move for night. Because our hotel's location was very central to everything, we figured we'd make a visit to one of Bangkok's famous red light districts--Soi Cowboy. Despite its reputation for the many strip clubs that line its streets, there were also plenty of regular bars located there as well. Coupled with great outdoor patios, and cold beer, Justin and I figured it would be perfect spot to people watch and take in the unique atmosphere. As advertised, the place was filled with friendly women (Justin thought they were all lady boys) ready to mingle with any guy that came across their path. The most interesting thing we saw was the number of families (parents and kids) that were making the stroll up and down the street. Although we didn't have the "real full Soi Cowboy experience", it was still fun to watch even the ugliest of guys take home a girl, and make jokes about a handful of others that made their visit to this area of town, solely for reasons that were not related to getting drunk, people watching, and making fun of these people. Either way, I'll try not to judge too much.

One of the best food courts in Bangkok was just a mere steps away from us in the Terminal 21 mall. In the food court, you would load up a card with money and then eat 'til your hearts desire. Justin and I made it a point to try a wide variety of foods and each plate cost under $2!

I got some Singaporean/Hainan chicken as well as some curry wrapped up in an egg "blanket"...

And of course Justin got his wide noodles while I tried some marinated pork dish that was cooked in this huge vat with eggs. It was really good and I dont' know what it was called. You can also see the rechargable card in the right hand picture.

There was a crossfit box right near the Skytrain/MRT station closest to our hotel, but sadly I didn't get to visit it (i.e.: I avoided it, LOL)...

On our very last night, we decided to check out a Chinese restaurant that Justin's cousin recommended that we try called Four Seasons. Below are a few shots of the Chicken Lo Mein and Dumplings that we ordered, along with a few other dishes not pictured. Most likely, we finished each of the other dishes before I thought about snapping some photos. With all the Thai food that we had been eating during our stay in Bangkok, we figured Chinese would be a nice change-up, considering that good Chinese food is hard to find in Washington DC (unless you're in the Falls Church, VA area).

Overall, our trip to Bangkok was the perfect ending to our long journey of Southeast Asia. After all the inconveniences that we experienced earlier in our trip, it was great to continue to the relaxed vibe that began when we finally arrived in Koh Samui. When it came time for us to fly back to DC, we were more than excited to return home. We had a lot of fun on this trip, but we also missed the conveniences and comfort level that being in the US brings. On top of that, we also missed our dogs :)

Brioni Southeast Asian World Tour: Thailand - Ko Samui

2014-07-11T13:54:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the first part of the last installment of the Brioni Southeast Asia World Tour! I believe we left off where we had just boarded the train in Butterworth, Malaysia and were now heading to Ko Samui! Unlike the other trains we rode on during our trip, this train traveled during the day (not overnight, so we got to see all the sights of the of the Malaysian/Thai countryside...er...jungle).

The train service also served food on this trip, which wasn't provided on the previous train rides through Singapore and Malaysia. Justin and I were served little carry out containers filled with fried chicken and white rice, as well as a side of little bananas for dessert,. The meal overall was pretty good! They even had a little container of pepper sauce, which was delicious!

Because we left the Butterworth train station late in the afternoon, our scheduled arrival time at the Surat Thani train station would be a little after midnight. With the very last ferry ride for the day leaving the dock at around 8:00pm, it appeared that Justin and I were going to have to spend the night until the next ferry ride departed for Ko Samui in the morning. Based on our research, it didn't look like there were many lodging options nearby the train station. For hotels, most people on Trip Advisor's website recommended traveling 30 minutes from the train station to the city center. In other words, nothing was within walking distance...

When we arrived at the train station, everything was pretty much closed as predicted. We wandered around a little bit and found two backpackers that were headed to the city center. The two backpackers spoke fluent English, and each appeared to be trustworthy enough to follow for some lodging options. After Justin spoke with the Thai man that was taking these backpackers to the city center, we hopped into this covered truck (or a jeepney, for all those who know what that is) and began what would be the craziest portion of our journey.

After driving down dark streets at 100 mph, holding on to dear life to our belongings in the back of the truck, we arrived at the "luxurious" Bandon Hotel. As it turned out, the Thai man that drove us to the hotel was also the owner of this establishment. As we walked through the entrance, what really caught our eye was the fact that guests of this hotel had to walk through a restaurant, then up a flight of stairs, in order to get to the hotel. The owner then showed us two different rooms that we could choose from for our overnight stay. Each option was no different from the other, both offering a twin bed, bathroom, ceiling fan, and TV. After we chose our room, the owner then instructed us to be ready by 7:00am, so that our "transportation" can pick us up and take us to the dock for the first ferry ride departure to Ko Samui.

We realized that the cash we did have wouldn't be enough to cover our costs for this overnight stay, so we knew it would be necessary to make a trip to an ATM. Luckily, we were told that next door to the hotel was a 7-11 with an ATM machine located outside the storefront. Justin made the trip and made a withdrawal of what he figured would be enough to cover our overnight stay and the ride to the dock. Unfortunately, the amount that the owner said was owed was more than what Justin took out. Once again, Justin made a second trip to the ATM machine, this time learning not to underestimate the amount of Thai Baht needed for this little detour on our journey.

As I alluded to earlier, we knew that this place wasn't going to be 5-star accommodations. Because our stay would only be for a few hours, we were okay with the "luxurious" amenities Bandon Hotel offered. This trip so far has really brought us out of our comfort zone, but that's what makes good stories, right? Justin and I kept quoting the movie"Coming to America" as we were definitely staying in "meager accommodations".

Here's a hotel room selfie! Justin stayed up and watched the Brazil-Germany World Cup match while I caught some zzzz's. I think he was just too scared to turn off the lights and fall asleep in the room...

But hey! We had wifi! :)

A shot of our bathroom. Justin was naively asking where the shower was (LOL). This type of bathroom is what you would call a "wet bathroom", meaning that the entire bathroom is your shower ;) Luckily I packed some rubber flip flops (that fit MY small feet) to use when we decided to use the shower.

Good Morning Surat Thani!

When we woke up later that morning (considering we checked in about 4 to 5 hours earlier), we met up with the owner, who directed us to outside of the hotel where we would be picked up. We were joined by another person that needed a ride to the dock. While we waited, I posed the hypothetical to Justin on what would happen if our "transportation" to the dock was actually one of the many motor scooters parked outside of the hotel. He laughed and then said he didn't know if he'd want to ride one unless there was someone else operating the bike for him, and he rode as a passenger...

After waiting a few minutes the hotel owner arrived with our "transportation" to the dock....a motor scooter. We looked at each other in disbelief at what had just happened, especially after our little game of hypotheticals. Justin then pointed out to the owner that one motor scooter would not be enough for the three of us and all of our luggage. In response, the owner said that this motor scooter was for the other person waiting for us. As instructed, our companion hoped on the back of the motor scooter and took off for the dock...

Just when we thought we were in the clear to take another form of transportation, two more motor scooters rolled up. As it turned out, these guys were going to take us to the dock. That left us wondering how we would get our large suitcase to the dock with only two motor scooters. After a few minutes of thinking about this new problem at hand, the owner returned with his motor scooter. With our other companion no longer with him, the owner explained that he would bring our large suitcase on the back of his motor scooter...

With us losing time until the first ferry to Ko Samui left Surat Thani, Justin and I each hopped on the back of the motor scooters that were to take us to the dock. Unfortunately, I have no photos of either of us riding these motor scooters, mainly due to the fact that I had no free hands during the ride. The driver of my motor scooter was riding at such a fast pace, weaving in and out of the morning traffic. I was afraid of loosening my hold around the rider's waist, and didn't have the courage to even reach for my phone or camera for the photo op. Justin's experience was similar to mine, except that he admits freely that he screamed like a "little girl" throughout the ride, "holding on to dear life". He even claims that his rider popped a wheelie and intentionally tried to scare him. Although our mini-motor scooter tour was unplanned and very unexpected, it was an awesome experience.

As you can tell (from me retelling our trip to you), we made it to the dock safely, but the motor scooters were only the first leg on our trip to the dock. After riding through the city, the motor scooters dropped us and our suitcase off at another location/building where were rejoined by the other person that was waiting with us earlier. A truck picked the three of us up from there, and drove us to yet another location full of other backpackers. From there, our next mode of transportation was a bus. To make a long story short, our trip to the dock was a long-winded one, but we did eventually make it :)

It was overcast, but pretty!

The ferry ride to the island was about an hour long. Once we arrived in Ko Samui, we took another van to get to our hotel, which was located in the southern part of Chaweng (a main drag in Ko Samui). After traveling by trains, vans, and motor scooter, we finally made it to our hotel, Poppies! They even greeted us with a lei and a drink!

The inside of the hotel room/cottage was adorable! There was beautiful Thai woodwork in the details of all the furniture.

And the bathroom had a garden that added a cute touch.

There was even a bucket full of water at the entrance to our cottage for us to wash our feet of the sand before entering. This was so thoughtful!

Justin standing in front of our very own Thai cottage!

Signage and koi fish

After a very long 24 hours of travel, and having not eaten since our train ride to Surat Thani, we were starving. Our first order of business at the hotel was to grab a bite to eat at the hotel's beach-side restaurant.

And drink a little caffeine to get us through the rest of our day...

For dinner we ate at a nearby Scandinavian restaurant called Scandic where I ordered the Swedish meatballs. We didn't stay out too late because we were still tired from all our traveling from Butterworth and Surat Thani.

The next day we got up bright and early to head to the beach. Here's a panoramic view from the front porch of our cottage.

And here's an early morning shot of the beach. It was cloudy in the morning, but it eventually cleared up!

Our hotel stay came with complimentary breakfast every morning, which included my favorite--fresh tropical fruit!

And fresh squeezed juices too! I got watermelon juice!

Because we've been eating a lot of Asian food on this trip, Justin appreciated the Western breakfast selections (including pastries!) to start our day.

Hot dogs or legs, LOL...

The beautiful beach

We also ate lunch at the hotel restaurant a few other times when we didn't feel like venturing out from the beach and hotel. The waitresses were so nice, always having a smile on their faces! They always greeted us with the traditional Thai greeting ("Sawatdee ka" for females) and even knew what table/part of the restaurant that we preferred to sit at each day (closest to the beach of course!).

The beautiful mountains. We honestly didn't do much on this leg of the trip, which we were totally fine with! It was a much needed break after the somewhat hectic travel schedules in Singapore and Malaysia.

We headed to the busier area of central Chaweng for our last meal on our very last night in Ko Samui. We looked on Trip Advisor and noticed a place called The Green Bird received plenty of great reviews, so we decided to check it out. It took us quite some time to find it because the restaurant is located off the beaten path, being located off the main road between some clothing shops. Despite the amount of time it took for us to look for it, the long search was well worth it.

Of course we got the wide noodles (pad see ew), which is Justin's favorite Thai dish...

And some crispy beef and fried rice...

We may or may not have gotten a second order of some of the above items. It was just so good and made fresh! Our entire meal for the two of us was under $10 USD...what a steal!

When we returned to our hotel room, we were greeted with a sweet treat as part of the turned down service that we received each night we stayed at Poppies. Tonight it was a coconut cookie (which Justin tried to eat without me knowing about them)!

We were sad to leave Ko Samui since we had such a great time on the island; however, it was time to head to Bangkok for the very last leg of our trip. Although we planned on taking the ferry back to Surat Thani, then continue our trip by train to Bangkok, we had to make an unplanned audible in our transportation plans. Two days before we were to depart for Bangkok, we realized that our hotel never received our train tickets from the train company. When we originally purchased the tickets, we were told by the train company that the tickets were to be mailed to our hotel. Because we were overly excited to have finally arrived in Ko Samui, we forgot to make sure the train tickets had actually been received. By the time we realized that we didn't have our tickets, it was too late. The day before we were to leave was a national holiday and the ticket office was closed. Maybe our failure to ensure we had our train tickets was a blessing in disguise because Justin and I weren't looking forward to the same travel shenanigans that we just experienced in traveling to Ko Samui. We instead booked some last minute plane tickets for a direct flight from Ko Samui to Bangkok. Although we purchased these tickets at the 11th hour, the airfare was relatively inexpensive. Additionally, the train tickets were inexpensive also, making our loss not at all huge. A bigger plus to this travel option is that the flight was only 45 minutes. :) We enjoyed traveling by train to most of our locations on our trip, but the trip we made from the Surat Thani train station to Ko Samui was the longest and least convenient. We were glad to be taking a quick flight this time around.

Here is a shot of Justin at the Ko Samui airport and the airport's thatched roof. It kind of reminded us of the Long Beach airport because it is mostly an outdoor airport.

There you have it, our (mostly) relaxing stay in the beautiful island of Ko Samui. Justin and I had a great time relaxing on the beach and eating all the delicious food. We were sad to leave but excited for the last leg of our trip in Bangkok, and eventually our trip back to the US.

Brioni Southeast Asian World Tour: Malaysia - Penang

2014-07-08T13:53:00.000-04:00

Hello and welcome to the third installment of what Justin has dubbed the "Brioni Southeast Asian World Tour." As I mentioned in my previous post, we left Kuala Lumpur and headed for the Thai resort island of Koh Samui, but before we got there we had a very long train stop (about nine hours!) in the railway town of Butterworth. We got to Butterworth at 5:30 am, and we seemed kind of stranded because it didn't look like there was anything around the train station. There were no restaurants, hotels, or other establishments that we could sit in and wait out the hours until our next train. We weren't going to be like some of the backpackers that we saw and sleep in the train station, so we opted to get the phone number of a cab to drive us to a nearby hotel for a shower and some sleep.

When the cab arrived we were greeted by Ahmad who cheerfully put our luggage in the trunk. When we told him that we wanted to go to the nearest hotel, he told us that we should reconsider and do a tour of nearby Penang island courtesy of him. He said he would drive us around and wait for us at all the attractions. We were still sleep deprived from our long journey and with us being very leery city folk, we were a little hesitant to have this complete stranger take us around and watch our luggage. After thinking it over for a few minutes, we figured we had nothing to lose...except our belongings if he chose to drive off, LOL...just kidding...

So after we agreed to his personal tour, he asked us if we wanted to eat. We were pretty hungry so he dropped us off at Golden River for some dim sum (are you starting to see a theme here?).

A cute sign indicating where to get the plates and silverware

This sign indicated that there was a monetary penalty for wasted food (I guess for when they had unlimited buffets perhaps?).

Some of our delectable selections. I swear Justin still dreams about these dumplings to this day...

Then it was off to go sightseeing! Warning...it will be temple overload from this point forward. You've been warned! :)

All the temples were intricately decorated, as you can see from the pictures that follow.

This temple in particular was a Hindu temple, and people were making their offerings for the day.

People lighting incense.

A flower shop where you can purchase wreaths to place at the temples.

A Muslim mosque.

Inside one of the many Buddhist temples on the island.

We were on our way to Kek Lok Si Temple (the Temple of Supreme Bliss), which is a collection of temples located in the Penang hillside and we of course saw more temples...

Did you know that the city of Georgetown in Penang is an UNESCO World Heritage site? As you can see in the picture below, this is a Buddhist temple that is along side a building with traditional colonial British architecture. All over the city you saw this colonial architecture intact, but used for modern purposes.

We had to drive up a hill in order to get to Kek Lok Si, and once we got there we entered the huge temple. In a lot of these temples we had to take off our shoes like Justin is seen here.

Say, "Sleep deprivation!" Just kidding. Although we were tired, we were having a lot of fun ;)

Next we went to the outdoor area which was filled with lovely gardens and statues.

An outdoor Buddha statue

The second area of the temple was located even higher on the hill...

We had to take a mini funicular/cliff railway to get us there. Up we go!

Justin pretending to be scared

But the views from high on the mountainside were spectacular!

Located on this second level was the Kwan Yin Goddess of Mercy. It was really huge!

See how small I look in comparison?

Justin and I decided to take some selfies around the grounds

What I started to notice is that in many of these temples there would be multiples of the same statue...

According to our driver/tour guide we went at a really good time (early in the morning) because this place is typically packed with crowds. There was hardly anyone there when we arrived, so it was like we had the whole place to ourselves!

What's your sign? Your Chinese Zodiac sign that is... ;)

Stray cats roaming around the grounds.

Koi fish in the fountain...

Next on our tour was Penang Hill, which was a colonial hill station established by the British.

As the name indicates, we had to go up a hill, requiring us to ride yet another funicular train. This train was a bigger one compared to the one that we used at Kek Lok Si.

Up we go! Going up and looking down was kind of trippy!

The sign below indicating the early forms of transport to get to the top of the hill...

...which meant masters being carried up in special chairs.

Of course the place was a little touristy in that you could take pictures with birds and other creatures. This bird tried to escape and the handler quickly grabbed him.

More stunning views from the mountain top.

Cool fuzzy plants.

Between the servant chairs and the modern funicular train that they is used today, they also had an older version of a rail car.

We walked around and spotted another touristy thing. A love lock bridge, which appears to mimic the one in Paris, France. Unlike the one in Paris, this one was a bit more commercial, in that there was a booth where you could purchase your lock.

Lolz, love this message...

I spotted my name! Although I don't know who Teddy is...Ruxpin or Roosevelt I'd be fine with either. ;)

We traveled up more stairs to check out another temple

This Hindu temple was pretty cool because of its pastel colors.

Justin with a huge cannon.

Justin enjoying the view!

Cheesy photo op time!

After we left Penang Hill, I told Ahmad that I wanted to get some souvenirs. We then made a stop at Penang Batik Factory. Batik is an art form that uses wax to resist colors in certain areas. By using this color blocking technique they are able to make wonderful works of art!

We ended up taking a small handmade batik piece home with us!

After stopping by the Batik Factory, we made another stop at a Malaysian chocolate place and a Malaysian white coffee place where we took home samples of both!

Then it was on to more temples!

This temple had a reclining Buddha (we would see the famous reclining Buddha later in our trip in Bangkok).

Ahmad felt we had to at least stop by a beach before we left. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to lay out on the sand or swim in the ocean. Instead, we took a few photos and dug our feet in the sand. Once we reached Koh Samui, we'd have plenty of time to hang out and relax on the beach. I guess you can consider these photos a taste of what's to come on our next destination.

Another selfie, but this time not in a temple :)

Here's a photo of Justin and the man who helped make a nine hour layover into one of the best experiences of our trip. Thank you Ahmad! If any of you all make it to Malaysia, specifically Butterworth/Penang Island, let me know and I'll pass on his contact information.

Ahmad saw us off and made sure we boarded our train on time and safely. So concludes the portion of our trip where Justin and I roamed around as backpackers, unshowered and sleep deprived. We were super excited to finally make it to the island of Koh Samui. After traveling by train and not staying in one place for more than two days, Justin and I were looking forward to staying put for a longer period of time. Now all we had to do was make it to Koh Samui, which is another story in itself...

Brioni Southeast Asian World Tour: Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur

2014-07-07T13:49:00.000-04:00

Welcome to another installment of the Brioni Southeast Asian World Tour! :) This post is going to talk about our two day stay in Kuala Lumpur!

After our overnight train left Singapore, we arrived in Kuala Lumpur bright and early. Luckily the hotel that we were staying at (the Aloft Sentral) was right across the street from the train station, and they even let us check in early too!

The hazy sunrise view from our hotel room...

Another shot from our hotel room from a different angle...

Because we were still a little tired from traveling, we didn't do much during the day. This left us with enough energy to go out that night for dinner and drinks. We went to Bukit Bintang, a popular area full of bars and restaurants.

For dinner, we at the Steakhouse KL. Here's a dim shot of my refreshing cocktail!

This particular restaurant allowed you to choose your starch, your sauce and of course your cut of steak. I opted for the baked potato and chimmichuri sauce with the strip!

Dinner is served!

Justin thought the restaurant was just okay, but it's hard to beat the steak we had for our anniversary dinner at CUT.

After dinner, we strolled around the nearby bars. A lot of the bars had different themes (e.g.: Irish pub, English ale house, etc.), which was very interesting. It appeared that these places were probably catering to the expats and tourists. Below is a sign for a pig knuckle eating challenge. Don't even even get me started...but for us having just ate dinner, you know Justin wanted to do it.

Cool reggae bar signage that changed color!

Crowded streets...

This bar made us think of our friend/former roommate, McCarthy...

The next day was our big sightseeing day. Before we got productive, we took advantage of our hotel's complementary breakfast, which provided a variety of delicacies.

Sarawak Laksa is a spicy noodle soup from Peranakan cuisine. Pernakan food is a type of cuisine that combines Chinese and Malay food. I liked it because I love spicy food!

Below on the left is Chee Cheong Fun, which are steamed rice rolls with shrimp paste. I noticed a lot of Malaysian food had a lot of shrimp paste/fish sauce, which Justin wasn't a huge fan of. On the right was Nasi Lemak, which is a rice dish cooked in coconut milk.

Nasi Lemak is served with peanuts, cucumber and chili sauce, which you're supposed to put on top (in the picture below to the left, you can see it on my plate below next to some chicken curry). As you can see in my facial expression in the picture below to the right, you can't beat the fresh Asian fruit! I fully took advantage of the rambutan, yellow watermelon, and dragonfruit!

After such a hearty breakfast it was time for our tour of the city!

Here is a picture that I took of the home of the royal family. Yes, you can't see much because I was scrambling to get into position, and the tour bus driver didn't stop. Would it have killed the driver to have stopped for a few minutes so that we could take one picture? Geez!

Malaysian TV news station...

The National Mosque of Malaysia (Masjid Negara Malaysia)

I think this was a Catholic church, which was neat to see, considering that Malaysia is predominantly a Muslim country

A cute sign that we saw while on our bus tour

The Malaysian version of the Ruff Ryders, LOL. Just kidding. Motorbikes and scooters are very popular in Southeast Asia for their ability to go between cars, and weave in and out of traffic.

Dataran Merdeka or Independence Square

Medan MARA. I'm not sure what kind of building this is (I know it was a government building), but I really liked the interesting tilework.

The Palace of Culture (which is a performance venue (I think) like the Kennedy Center)

And of course, the Petronas Twin Towers. Unfortunately we went on on Monday and their observatory was closed for the day. Fortunately, there wasn't much to see from that height because it was a really foggy day!

Although we didn't see it, it looks really pretty when it's lit up at night

photo taken from flickr

The lovely fountains in front of the Petronas Towers

A picture in front of the towers, as well as a peak inside the tower. I would have never expected that inside the tower was a huge mall. Asians love malls. It's interesting to note that while malls are falling out of practice in the DC area (for more urban-style storefronts/town centers), malls will always be popular in Southeast Asia, if anything for their air conditioning!

Petronas is the sponsor of the Malaysia Grand Prix, so they had two Formula One racing cars in the entryway.

The KL Tower

Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown. There were a lot of vendors selling food, but most of the stalls were selling clothing or knock-offs. Of course you have the fake purses, but did you know they make fake Beats by Dre headphones? I wonder what the sounds quality is like?

Justin and I thought that these signs were funny. The fact that they are placed together shows that this places of business believe durian eating is just as offensive as smoking a cigarette, LOL! Justin actually had durian for the first time while on this trip (you'll see it in a later post :).

After a long day of sightseeing, we needed to head back to train station for the next leg of our trip, Ko Samui. We stopped by the mall near the train station and grabbed a bite to eat! The Malaysian version of Korean food! I thought it was pretty good!

And by the looks of the sign it looked like they were hiring too! Even the hiring ads reflected the Muslim culture with the women wearing hijabs. Our stay in Kuala Lumpur was really cool in that we got to experience a predominantly Muslim culture in Asia! With that in mind, businesses closed early for Ramadan and there were no pork products to be found (no bacon!)

The next stop on our trip would be a brief stop in the town of Butterworth. There we visited the island of Penang. Stay tuned!

Brioni Southeast Asian World Tour: Singapore

2014-07-04T13:45:00.000-04:00

Well, it’s a miracle! A new blog post for you all to read after an unexpected hiatus; the first installment of our international trip to three Southeast Asian countries; and a blog post written through the words of my darling Justin.

At the special request of my beautiful wife, I promised to help in the retelling of our long fourteen day journey through Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. First stop – Singapore.

Some towering views from the top of our hotel and the view from our hotel room...

After two days of flying from DC to Dallas, and then to Japan, we finally arrived in Singapore. We stayed at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, which offered a gorgeous view of Marina Bay and an Infinity Pool on the rooftop. Despite the cloudy weather, we decided to take advantage of the awesome pool.

Like many of the other visitors to the hotel, Joanne and I did the quintessential pool photo poses that one would take in such a pool:

The “I’m gazing out into the city, thinking about life” pose.

The “I’m falling off the edge of the building” pose.

In between our time taking obscene and clever photos in the hotel’s pool, Joanne and I ate a lot of awesome food. One of the first meals we had was dim sum at Din Tang Fung Dumpling House which was in the mall connected to our resort. To the West Coast readers out there, we know they have these out in California; however, we don’t have them in DC and we figured why not. The food was just as good as we remembered it on our first trip to their Arcadia, Ca location. We ordered the usual (dumplings, dumplings, and dumplings), but were cautioned by our waitress that we “ordered too much”. Considering the fact that we were jet lagged and really hungry, we really didn’t care and told the waitress to mind her damn business! Just kidding, we were nice and may have ordered another dish, possibly misunderstanding what she was communicating to us at the time.

Hard at work making the dumplings by hand, yum!

One common theme that you're going to see in our Asia vacation blog posts is food. Hawker stalls (they are like food carts in a more organized/building setting--kind of like a food court but with more personality :) like in the picture below were common.

Joanne has always been the more adventurous eater so it was no surprise to me that she dove right into trying the local cuisine. While strolling around on our tour of the city we stopped in a mall for a bite and she tried the dish below. According to the menu it is: "Nasi Kerabu with Ayam Percik served with raw ulam, salted egg and kerapak." I had no clue what that meant, but it was basically chicken covered in a curry sauce with a side of fish chips.

We also ate at a bunch of different price points, but in Singapore everything was really expensive (even more than London!). So for our (very, very) high-end dining experience we ate at Wolfgang Puck’s steakhouse which was conveniently located in our hotel. Like Las Vegas and Beverly Hills, Singapore also had a CUT. Because we anticipated spending our four year wedding anniversary in Narita Airport, we figured CUT would be the perfect place to celebrate our wedding anniversary in style.

Some pre-dinner selfies...

For starters, we had the Bone Marrow Flan because it’s too hard to turn down bone marrow…

And the Maple Glazed Pork Belly, Fuiji Apple-Yali Pear Salad. Excuse the dark photography, I didn't want to ruin the ambiance ;)

We each ordered a steak, with Joanne settling with the Filet Mignon. I went with a Rib Eye.

For desert, we enjoyed a soufflé. The wait staff really made our dining experience memorable with their hospitality and attentiveness. Our wine glasses were never empty and we never felt neglected.

After dinner, we decided to go watch the Germany v. France World Cup match. As recommended by the concierge, we made our way to Clarke Quay (which the locals pronounced "quackie quay"), which was similar to Fourth Street Live in Louisville, Ky, or Power Plant Live up in Baltimore, Md. Bottom line, there’s about five blocks of bars all clustered together.

The atmosphere was pretty crazy when we got there, considering the combination of soccer fans, alcohol, and it being a Saturday night. Overall, it was a pretty good time drinking Tiger Beers and doing some prime people watching on the outdoor patios. There were plenty of people puking and falling down all over the place, which is the only way to enjoy the Singapore nightlife.

Our first stop on our “Brioni Southeast Asian World Tour” was merely a warm up for the next couple of days. After two days of eating, drinking, and taking in the sights (yes, we did some sightseeing although we took very little pictures in Singapore, darn you jet lag!), we made our way to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

We were lucky enough to navigate through Singapore’s Woodlands Train Station safely to make it to our next destination. That little experience was another memorable story..basically we entered customs though the bus line, not the train line like we were supposed to. After discovering our mistake, they invalidated our stamp of entry and we were then escorted by a customs agent to the right area. That's what I get when I choose to follow my wife who opts to walk first then look later.

See the guard rail below? We walked through on the right when we were supposed to wait in line on the left. Whoops.

From Singapore were were going to be traveling via overnight train through Malaysia. A shot of me in front of my "bed." There were curtains you could draw for more privacy.

A view from inside Joanne's sleeping "nook." They didn't have anywhere to store the luggage so Joanne opted to put our suitcase in her nook since it fit!

The train traveled to the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, while we slept. At this point in our trip, Joanne and I still hadn’t killed each other – yet another miracle!

Weekend Review: Sick Sounds, Strength and Soccer

2014-06-23T11:39:00.000-04:00

For some reason this old lady went out a lot last week. In my previous post, I told you about the Joe show I saw on Wednesday. It doesn't stop there! I went out the next evening to see A-Trak! My sister Jill turned me onto to A-Trak not too long ago. We saw him for the first time last year in Atlantic City and he knocked our socks off! Everything from his song selection, to his scratching skills and his awesome visuals make for a great show! For all of you jaded with DJ/EDM culture (although he spins more than EDM), I highly suggest you check him out! He will show you what true DJing is all about!

Here is a shot of the master at work!

They even tossed out 8-bit fatheads of him...how fun!

Barbra Streisand!

Mr. Goldbar! The mascot for his record label, Fools Gold! Did you know that you can volunteer to dress up as Mr. Goldbar at his shows? Girls can even be t-shirt tossers!

Gahhh! Being a former member of the Nat Pack I knew I could have done that, but I didn't get the memo! That was my first #FOMO moment of the evening. Wah wah. But if I did do it maybe it would have looked something like this?

One of the lucky people that caught one of the fatheads let me take a picture with it!

My second #FOMO moment was that I learned that he sticks around after his shows to take selfies with his fans! And again I found out too late and they wouldn't let me back in after I left. :( Despite my #FOMO moments I had the best time! As he says on his Instagram, "Go to an A-trak show!" I say, "Go to an A-trak show! You won't be disappointed!"

That wasn't the only thing I did over the weekend. On Friday my crossfit box held its first Rubicon Smackdown. The Smackdown was a friendly competition of strength between other members of the box.

I got volunteered to judge a portion of the competition. Luckily, it didn't involve counting! I judged overhead squats so you either have it or you don't! Here is Kate going for max reps!

PJ lifting a sh** ton of weight!

The Smackdown wasn't without some tasty barbecue, dessert, and brews! Check out this Rogue bottle opener!

Cheers!

Prowler pushing time!

This event also served as a farewell party for Kendra, one of our crossfit coaches. After living here for about a year, she was moving back home to Oregon! I'm really going to miss her and I'm also going to miss her taste in music! Her dubstep selections really pumped me up during my workouts!

After all those fun filled events, the rest of the weekend was low key. We checked out this sub place in NE DC called Mother Ruckers.

And then we watched U.S. Men's Soccer Team play Portugal. #WorldCup #IBelieveThatWeWillWin (on Thursday! :).

I hope you all had a fun weekend too! Have a great rest of the week! :)

#LiveSessions with Joe Thomas!

2014-06-19T11:57:00.000-04:00

I'm on a (bloggin') roll!

I am a lover of all kinds of music, but 90's R&B has always had a special place in my heart! Remember last Valentine's Day when we saw Brian McKnight? Well, last night a local radio station Majic 102.3 was hosting a free mini-concert/music session with a couple of up-and-coming artists and of course Joe Thomas (known of course simply as Joe).

Here is a shot of the first act, Lysette Titi, who has performed with Nikki Minaj. She was great and performed some of her original songs.

Next was MuMu Fresh who sang some radio hits with her own Afro-centric twist.

Then it was time for Joe! He looking as cool as ever! The man is ageless!

Here he is getting interviewed by the emcee of the evening, Adimu. Do you remember him from BET's Teen Summit?!

And for the big finale, all the females in room (myself especially!) singing along to his hit, "I Wanna Know." You can really hear me at the end of this clip...Justin said I sound like a drunk white girl, LOL.

Anyway, I love shows like this...small and intimate, but it was too short....it left me wanting more! I hope he comes back to DC soon to do a full concert! :)

Ruck Review: GoRuck Light Washington DC Class 326

2014-06-16T14:32:00.000-04:00

The GoRuck gods couldn't have planned a better day. It had been raining the entire week leading up to our second GoRuck Light! It's funny how Justin thinks I'm crazy for doing these events, but I think he's crazy for not wanting to do it!

Here is a shot of our group awaiting our instructions.

Look at this sexy set of team weights!

Warming up with some PT! Doing the wheelbarrow with a ruck on is no joke! Holy ab-strength Batman!

Jill holding it down with the 20 lb sandbag.

Me buddy carrying the 120 lb.(?) sandbag. The important thing that you need to remember during these carries is that you need to share the load with someone the same height as you! It seems like common sense, but whenever someone needed to get relieved you needed to find someone the same height as the person carrying the weight or you were SOL.

Working on our people carries! Cadre Dakotah taught a few different ways to carry people. Although you can't see her face, we're carrying Jill. I got carried this way as well and it is not comfortable. I also got fireman carried (carried across the shoulders), even though I tried to hide! LOL! There were plenty of lighter girls than me! Come to think of it, none of the methods of carrying people are very "comfortable"...

Here's a shot of Aaron and his various weights! Can you believe he carried each of us? For what seemed like a really like long time...and uphill too!

We ended the day with a bucket of ice cold brews! They definitely hit the spot on a hot day.

So with two GoRuck Lights under our belts, the only thing left for us to is a GoRuck Challenge (basically twice as long and carrying twice the amount the weight). During the BOGO Buddy pass sale, Jill and I also signed up for the Challenge on September 12. And we get a special patch too! Woohoo!

We'll probably start training for it next month, but here are some things I want to accomplish with the

One-person carry someone more than a couple of feet - it's a strength thing. Enough said.
Step up my PT game - I need get my bear crawls, flutter kicks, etc. on lock--the key is to be prepared for everything!
Ruck a little faster - my little legs take twice as many strides as taller people so I need to learn how to take twice as many steps without wearing myself out

I think we might try to shadow (follow a group of ruckers throughout the duration of their challenge) another GoRuck Challenge before ours to get a feel of what it is like. But if we don't, we'll just have to have faith that we've been training right!

To see the review our our last GoRuck Light click here!

Merry Merry Month of May to the Third Power

2014-05-20T21:00:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone! Remember me? Yes, I know I haven't posted in a while but hopefully you'll be seeing more action from me. I have a bunch of half finished posts that need to be completed and this happens to be one of them!

Last month I performed with some of my Filipino co-workers for Asian Pacific Heritage Month. I still can't believe that I've been with at my current job for five years (longer than college! ;) and this is my third time performing with this group!

With less than two weeks of practice we somehow ended up doing one of the most difficult Filipino folk dances of all--the tinikling. For those of you not familiar with this dance, it involves dancing between fast moving bamboo poles. Definitely not a dance for the faint of heart, or those with weak ankles, LOL.

Anyway, this is a dance that I am somewhat familiar as I did it when I was younger. But even back then it was still hard dance to do!

Below is a video of our performance, sorry it's a little fuzzy but hopefully you can tell which one I am!

Okay. Did you watch it?

Yup. We messed up, but it's okay! :) In case you couldn't tell this is a pretty difficult dance all dictated on rhythm so once you're "off" it's hard to get back "on." I'm still proud of us and happy that we got the opportunity to show our company our culture! I look forward to redemption next year...possibly with a performance of an even harder dance--singkil! Of course we'll have to practice more than two weeks ;)

You can see my group's past performances here and here!

Race Review: Nike Women's Half Marathon - April 2014

2014-04-28T15:14:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know the title says April and we're in June...don't judge me! :P

Random fact...did you know that my race/fitness related posts are some of the most read posts on my blog? I think it's kind of funny because I am by no means a fitness guru, but if you like reading about my attempts at fitness grandeur I'll keep writing about it ;)

The Nike Women's Half Marathon is one of those races you sign up for (months in advance via lottery), then it sneaks up on you when the race day finally arrives. I know I always say that, but I seriously think it's true in this case. It doesn't seem too long ago that I ran the first Nike Women's Half in DC last year. Anyway, this time around I was able to recruit my sisters and two of my friends to join in on the fun.

Although they had early packet pick-up at several suburban running stores, my sisters and I opted to go to the official expo at the Georgetown Waterfront (same as last year). And you know, it was glitzier than ever.

They had a lot of lcool signs like the one my sister's standing next to in this picture below.

They even had a light up map of the course, which was similar to last year's (with a few differences!). Instead, of tackling the U.S. Capitol at the end, it was one of the first stops of the race.

Of course the expo was crowded, but that is to be expected since we came on the last day (during the last hours too)! They had Nike outfit displays, as well as Luna Bar and Nuun tasting stations. They even had a booth where you could get your running supplies (e.g.: GU gels, hydration belts, etc.).

Can you believe we had to wait in line to take this picture? I guess it was better off because there was someone taking it for us and there were no other people blocking our shot.

Here is the wall outside of the Nike Georgetown store with the names of all the runners. It is always fun to find your name on the wall, but this time we just opted to drive by.

The morning of race day Judy and Jill decided to snack on some of the volunteers' food, LOL! I didn't actually take any pictures during the race, it's really not my style (AKA: I'm too busy huffing and puffing I can't focus!) but I can tell you about it!

First of all it was really organized! Although they didn't have multi-wave starts, they did have somewhat of a staggered start so everyone wasn't stampeding all at once. Of course, it got a bit crowded around Hains Point but that is to be expected with the number of runners and the narrow streets. I had to go to the bathroom within the first two miles *wah, wah* so that definitely slowed me down. Not like I was expecting to PR, but still...

There was plenty of crowd support and entertainment along the way. My favorites were the Chinese dragon dancers and the all-female drum band, Batala. There were plenty of snack stations along the way providing Luna Bars, Clif Bloks and even chocolate! I couldn't even think of eating anything while running so I squirreled away all my snacks in my hydration belt.

Speaking of hydration, water and Nuun hydration beverages were available at nearly every mile! You didn't have go very far to get a drink.

But of course the Tiffany's necklace is what makes it worth it in the end! Me and the famous box!

I have to admit I wasn't as prepared for this race as I should have been. I did train as hard as I should have. I was thinking that this was going to be my last long distance race. But...with my terrible finish time, I feel like I need some redemption. I can't let my running "career" end on low note, can I? I think I might enter the lottery for the Nike Women's next year and if I don't get in maybe run the Marine Corp. Historic Half since they are around the same time.

After the race, the runners, our significant others and our supporters went out for brunch at Medium Rare on Capitol Hill. The tasty food and bottomless drinks were the perfect finish!

Team will.run.for.dranks (minus Meaghan who was there in spirit!)

I really loved running this race. I really liked how they were able to keep it super organized despite the large number of participants. They utilized technology by personalizing video screens with your name and words of encouragement as your ran by. I liked all the hydration, snack, and entertainment stations along the course. The actual course can't be beat either! Since it is relatively flat I'm sure a lot of people were able to PR (not me this time). One thing that I didn't like was the shirt. Although, it was dri-fit, it didn't say "finisher" and only had one screen print color (white). One small negative, in an overall terrific race.

Our Upstairs Bathroom Remodel

2014-03-31T15:20:00.000-04:00

Hello again! If you have been missing our home improvement posts as of late then you're in luck! Did you know that we remodeled our upstairs bathroom earlier this year. Sorry this is another old blog post that I am just finishing. Because our Airbnb "business" has been going well, we decided that the best thing to do was reinvest that money back into our home by remodeling our upstairs bathroom.

Before the remodel, we had a clunky pedestal sink and a clawfoot tub without a shower head, making our bathroom a very non-functional full bath. We figured that we should make that bathroom more useful, and as a result we turned it into the guest bathroom and charged more money for our Airbnb room.

Our contractor wasted no time in getting started. After some debate, we figured the most cost effective thing for our renovation was to keep the clawfoot tub instead of squeezing a brand new shower enclosure in the small space. Anyways, if you know my tastes, I kind of liked the charm of the clawfoot tub ;) We also decided to regrout the existing tile. I decided that we should go with gray grout because I thought it wouldn't look so dirty compared to the existing white grout...

They also had to replace some of the loose tiles as well...

We ordered our shower conversion kit though Amazon and luckily it came in once piece!

Although we had originally wanted to keep our floor tile, it turned out to be in poorer condition than was expected. At the recommendation or our contractor, we decided to have it replaced. Our contractor said that the floor tiles ripped off so easily that it seemed like it "wanted" to get removed, LOL. In other words, the previous owners didn't install the old tile properly.

Before and after.

In order to replace the floor tile, they had to remove the tub...

So they put it in my closet room! And when they moved the clawfoot tub that's when we realized it was missing a foot! We worried that we wouldn't be able to use it, but since it was on the side that was propped up against the wall our contractor assured us that it would still be stable (with a make-shift wooden foot that wouldn't be seen ;) ).

We replaced the marble threshold since the original one had some chips in it.

Then it came time install the showerhead!

As you can see, it's comprised of multiple pieces that all connect. Here are some photos that show the showerhead, from the tub spout all the way to the curtain rods that connect to the wall.

Lastly, we got a teeny apartment-size corner sink. We got a corner sink a long time ago at Community Forklift; however, we couldn't use it when it came time for the renovation. It turned out that the corner sink we initially bought was too big for the space. Luckily, we found an awesome substitute with this sink pictured below. This corner sink, although small, does the job!

Now it was time for the finishing touches! Our contractor refreshed the yellow paint that was on the walls. I liked yellow for this small bathroom because I thought that it made it look bright and happy. I didn't want to pick any colors that would make that room look any smaller. With the yellow paint, I figured that gray would be a great compliment.

As for wall art, I didn't want to put any thing valuable on the walls because it's a space that is bound to get damp. Since moisture ruins art, I figured that I would put up something cost effective (i.e. "free"). I had snagged this poster from a local bar (the Brixton) a couple years ago. It was advertising its Triple Crown viewing party specials, and because this is "My Old Kentucky Home in DC" I pulled it off the wall of the Brixton's bathroom and rolled it up for safe keeping. I knew it would come in handy in the future!

I also grabbed this African mask from our guest room and put it in the bathroom. Nothing is better than accessorizing with what you already have :)

Since there is nowhere to store shampoos and whatnot not in the tub, I bought a shower caddy that fits in the corner. I had to get some shower liners of course, but I still need to cut them down a little bit because they are a little long! I also got a pretty gray and white shower curtain to match the motif.

Voila!

Wow, I can't believe it took us almost four years for us to remodel the upstairs bathroom, but I am glad we finally did it. Next on our list is the downstairs bathroom. Stay tuned!

You Down With AirBnB?

2014-03-24T12:12:00.000-04:00

Yeah you know me!

*sung to the tune of "O.P.P." by Naughty by Nature*

As the title indicates, Justin and I are "down" with AirBnB as we are hosts on this home/room sharing website. AirBnB stands for Air(mattress) Bed and Breakfast. Created as an alternative to expensive hotels, hosts on this website can rent out sofas, rooms and entire homes. Basically, as hosts on this website we open our home to travelers by renting a room out in our house (Yes complete strangers! Dun-dun-dun!). DC real estate blog, Urban Turf, provides a great primer on AirBnB here.

As discussed in the Urban Turf article, we had to get some licenses in order to rent out a room legally in the District (it varies by state). I also made sure we got the proper inspections done because that was the only way that Justin would let us participate--we had to be fully compliant with the DC laws of course. ;)

Click to see our listing

With our prime location in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, DC, we get a ton of inquires! We received so many inquiries that we have to decline some of them for various reasons (e.g.: Justin's exam week in school, family visiting, etc.) After all, we do want some time for ourselves every now and then. ;) We even get inquires about intern housing for the summer, but we aren't quite ready to host a young 20-something in our home for three months quite yet. ;)

Yes, there are some cons to this process, but to me they are minor. You have to sacrifice some of your privacy and obviously share your space. The language barrier between some of our guests got to Justin more than it did to me. Of course on the pro side we have gotten to meet some interesting people from all over the world, and everyone for the most part has been really nice! Additionally, I can't leave out the monetary benefit. For the few months that we have been doing AirBnB, we have earned enough money to remodel our upstairs bathroom. So if you ask me, I think the trade-off is worth it.

"But, Joanne! What about if they wreck your place or steal something?"

First off, we don't host guests without us being home ourselves. Thankfully, Airbnb has a really good insurance policy in those types of instances, and guests have to be verified though the website. As hosts, we are in no way obligated to accept every inquiry to stay in our home. As a general rule, if it doesn't feel right (listen to your gut feeling!) then don't do it!

It's pretty cool that this is a worldwide thing. Although hosting might not be an option for less metropolitan areas, I did see listings in Louisville, KY for Kentucky Derby weekend, with prices around $500/room (!!).

So what do you think? Is this something that you would do? Of course, if you are our friend or family you get to stay with us for free! ;)

Nom Nom Nom

2013-12-31T11:24:00.000-05:00

One thing that I have been doing a lot of this fall/winter season is eating. Yes, I know I'm paying for it since I will have to be beach body ready in a couple of months, but Lord knows I have been enjoying the good eats!

Justin and I finally made it to Toki Underground the day before Thanksgiving. I can't believe as a DC local and DC area native this is my first time dining at this place. We went during the day and still had to wait (about 20 mins) for a seat. Not too bad, comparing it to the multi-hour waits on the weekend evenings. So the key is come early and come during the day if you can!

Our server (I forgot her name but she had cute purple hair!) was friendly, informative and attentive. She gave us a great description of each item. We started off with the pork dumplings which were tasty and came with a sauce that had a little heat. Note: for lunch they only do steamed, not fried dumplings. My hubby ordered the classic (which I highly recommend you order if it's your first time) with pork cheek and extra noodles and I ordered the kimchee with pork cheek because I like things spicy!

Sorry I didn't take too many pics. I didn't want to seem like a huge dork/fangirl...LOL...

When our order came out it looked as if my bowl had the extra noodles instead of my husbands. Chef Erik overheard us (we were seated at the "chef's table"--in front of the kitchen :) and gladly made my husband an extra bowl of noodles on the spot. He was super nice and chatted with us for a bit, although I was a little shy and didn't want to bother him. In hindsight I should have chatted him up about the upcoming opening of Maketto, but I digress...

Anyway, I couldn't finish the extra order of noodles I unexpectedly received, but they packed it up. Btw, they separate the noodles and the broth so when you reheat it, your noodles don't get super soggy!

Lastly, I had a little bit of room for dessert and their fresh baked cookies were delicious on a cold rainy day. They come with a red bean miso which makes for the perfect combination of salty and sweet.

Another restaurant, I dined at was Water and Wall in Arlington. It is the newest creation from the team that brought you Maple Ave. (which I love!). I went with a couple of my crossfit gals and we definitely came with our appetites! Since it was all of our first time eating at this place, we decided to try a bunch of their appetizers. One of the apps we ordered was the shrimp and grits. They were so tasty and the grits made the perfect complement to the spicy shrimp broth.

We also ordered the bone marrow, which goes without saying. One of my friends hadn't tried bone marrow before...boy was she in for a treat!

Another appetizer we ordered was the steamed mussels. They were tasty and I enjoyed the Chinese sausage in the broth. However, between the bone marrow and the mussels the three of us didn't have enough bread to enjoy all the bone marrow-y and brothy goodness. Each appetizer only came with two pieces of bread. When I asked for extra bread, the server said it would cost extra (I can't remember how much). That was kind of annoying since you figure how cheap bread is and how much we were spending. We sucked it up and ordered the extra bread.

Now to the entrees!

I got the duck confit which was divine! Perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, with the delicious layer of fat in between. Served atop Brussels sprouts it made for a filling and tasty meal (which I couldn't finish since I had stocked up on the appetizers!)

My friend got the beef cheek which looked really good! We shared a bit of entrees with one another, and her dish was good too!

My other friend went with the meatless option, the sweet potato risotto which was good, but I preferred the meat dishes!

Although we had ordered a ton of appetizers and entrees we still made room for dessert. We ordered the mochi (which is a standard at Maple Ave).

And what I think were apple fritters with vanilla ice cream. I can't remember. Either way, both desserts were wonderful and the perfect was to end a meal.

Wow, I'm getting hungry just thinking about all these delicious dishes! Do you do a lot of eating when it started to get cold? For some reason, I find it comforting to eat good food and stuff my face the minute the temperature drops ;)

Did you miss me?

2013-12-26T16:03:00.000-05:00

Do you miss me? Now that I'm gone! LOL, for some reason my blog title made me think of this song.

Anyone remember it? I loved me some Jocelyn Enriquez back in the day and even owned the CD! #freestyle

Wow, it's been a minute since I last posted. Since I had some time in the midst of the crazy holiday season, I figured I would update you on some of the awesome things I've been up to since my last post (in October, eek!)

Well...

Justin and I hosted out very first Friendsgiving! And had an awesome Thanksgiving with my family, too!

I ate at a bunch of delicious places...

We did some stuff around the house! Got our floors upstairs refinished and got an energy audit of our house, too!

These next couple weeks I'll be updating you on some things that happened in the past, some unfinished posts, and other miscellany. We'll just call them the "lost files." For some reason or another, these are topics I just never got around to writing or posting until now.

Yes, it's old news, but it's new news to you, right? Stay tuned!

#Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving

2013-11-25T11:46:00.000-05:00

While at the bars one night (isn't that where the best decisions are made), Natasha and I thought it would be fun to have a Thanksgiving for friends (aka: Friendsgiving). So with a little planning and a Facebook invite sent, we had a good sized shindig at Casa de Brioni!

Since I have no culinary skills whatsoever, Natasha graciously offered to cook the turkey I had bought! ;) She did a superb job--brining it and everything!

Homemade pumpkin pies!

What a spread! Not bad for a group of 20-somethings...and a couple of 30-somethings ;)

Ian carving up the turkey! #likeaboss

Judy cutting up the porcetta!

We had over twenty people over at our lil' place so we had to spread out. Some of us were in the living room...

Grabbing a seat wherever!

And then another group of us were in the dining room. Times like this I wish we had an open concept home or more space!

In any case I love having my friends together!

Here I am!

Real Thanksgiving was good too! This year it was at my family's (Justin and I alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas between Maryland and Kentucky).

Dad carving up the turkey

The family spread with a mix of both American and Filipino food!

So that's what I did back in November...many moons ago. What about you guys? Do you have a Friendsgivng? If not, do you do any other fun holiday celebration with friends such a cookie exchange or white elephant?

Ruck Review: GoRuck Light Baltimore Class 119

2013-10-30T19:56:00.000-04:00

Hello everybody! I am finally getting around to reviewing my GoRuck Light experience! We had such a great time! Jill and I are already planning on doing another Light in preparation for a GoRuck Challenge next year (perhaps the Independence Day or September 11th ones--they're the popular dates in DC).

GoRuck was unlike anything I had experienced and I liked the fact that it was team focused. Our group consisted of people of various different fitness backgrounds. There were some people that had never done a GoRuck before, while others had done several. About a third of of our group were former military, another third were into ultra-sports (e.g.: Spartan Death Race/World's Toughest Mudder), and another third were crossfitters like myself. Of course there was some overlap between those categories and there were also some that didn't fit into any of those categories (like my sister!) but you get the idea.

Now that I got some photos, let me walk you through some of things we did!

We had to get up super early in the morning to make the 7AM meetup time in Baltimore at the steps of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Here is a shot of us getting our weight checked by Cadre Chris.

After getting our bricks checked it was on to our first challenge. One person was assigned our team leader and it was his job to guide us to our next destination. Of course, the Cadre threw us a curve ball and said that we had five casualties that we had to carry along the way. That meant five of our team members had to get on another person's back and be carried for part of the way (the girls were in high rotation for being carried). There is a certain technique behind carrying someone like this.

"GoRuck--Where you put your hand between someone's legs and then ask them their name." LOL

That's pic above is me. And boy is it uncomfortable (I'm sure for all parties involved!). Here is a shot of Jill being carried, too. I actually carried another female, but I couldn't carry her too far :(

Along the way, the Cadre would announce that we would have to pick up additional weight (aka: demo) in the form of sandbags found along side the road.

Me being a road guard!

Cadre Chris with his family (aka: the "Soul Crushers")

Here we are lined up doing push-ups. I don't know what they are called but they were freakin' hard! Basically the person in front of you put their legs on your back, then you put your legs on the back of the person behind you and then you push-up at the same time. I had never done them before so they were super challenging!

Doing the flutter kicks. Man was PT rough! Need to work on that for next time!

Jill walking along the guys' abs of steel!

After our first PT session we were on our way to our next destination with a new team leader. One of my teammates enjoying some ACRT--Advanced Cellular Repair Technology (aka: beer) along the way :) And yes, he's wearing a suit!

This newly assigned mission didn't require as many casualties, but we still had to carry some people.

Here is a picture of our team awaiting our next instructions.

One of my teammates who had completed a GoRuck Selection (the hardest of the GoRuck events with the lowest pass rate) said that he had carried more people during this GoRuck Light than he did during the Selection (which can span over a few days!) I guess it depends on what Cadre you get and what he is in the mood for. ;)

Here's Nicole being a bad a$$!

Here's a shot of me holding one of the many team weights--a sandbag. We had several team weights including a 65 lb sandbag, a weighted pvc pipe (which was super awkward to carry), the GoRuck flag, the American flag, and various sandbags we picked up along the way.

So that is just some of the things that we did. We did a ton more but if I talked about it all it would take an entire day! Plus, wouldn't you want to experience this fun yourself? ;) What was supposed to be 4-5 hours, 7-10 miles turned out to be almost seven hours and about 11 miles of good livin'. Under promise, over deliver indeed! We explored various neighborhoods of Baltimore all the way down to the Inner Harbor and back up again. We got wet (via: Harbor water), got dirty (via volleyball court), and had a lot of fun. I can't wait to do it again!

Go...Ruck!

Good...Livin'!

Easy Day...All Day!

Weekend Review: Some Good Livin' and Pearl Jam

2013-10-28T13:40:00.000-04:00

Hello Everybody! I hope you had a good weekend. As I've told you all before, I have been training for a GoRuck Light for the past month or so and it finally happened on Saturday. It was pretty fun and unlike anything I've done before. I'm still waiting for people to share their pictures (since I didn't take any) ~~so once I steal them~~, I promise that I'll do a blog post solely on my first GoRuck experience.

In the meantime, here is one pretty cool pic we took in front of an Easter Island head!

Post-GoRuck Jill and I were famished, in the midst of our preparation (hydration bladder: check! gloves: check!) we were starving because we didn't eat breakfast and forgot to pack snacks. Whoopsy! Some of our fellow GoRuckers shared their food with us, but we were still very hungry at the end! We looked up a brunch place on Yelp and came across this place

--Paper Moon Diner. It was located a just few steps away from where we parked!

This diner was featured on the show "Diner Paradise" on the Travel Channel for its tasty menu and eclectic decor. This window/opening was pretty cool.

Jill (surrounded by bright decorations) waiting for our food...

Since we were really hungry we started off with the gravy and egg topped fries as an appetizer.

Jill ordered the bacon blue cheese burger with avocado and a side of onion rings.

I ordered the crab cake melt (which was a fun take on a tuna melt) also with a side of onion rings. Our meals were super tasty and we even ordered some of their fabulous desserts (red velvet cake and peanut butter pie) to go. My only gripe is that it got to be really expensive since everything was a la carte and each item started to add up (e.g.: the coffees, onion rings).

The next day I headed back to Baltimore to see Pearl Jam in concert! Here is a shot of Justin and I waiting for the show to start. We had never seen Pearl Jam before and my husband is a big fan of the band.

For being so high up, we still had a pretty good view of the stage!

Our friend Bill (a die hard fan) is somewhere in the crowd below:

Eddie still looks great after all these years! Apparently the rocker life has been good to him! :)

It was a full house! It was neat hearing them perform their really popular songs (e.g.: Alive, Black, etc.) because the whole crowd would participate, almost like a sing-a-long! :)

So that was my weekend! I promise I'll post more about my GoRuck experience soon! And the concert on Sunday was a blast! Driving up to Baltimore is always a nice little getaway! Interestingly enough, a lot of parents had brought their kids to the show. I thought it pretty neat, but I thought the show ended kind of late, even for me!

Farewell to the ACC!

2013-10-18T17:40:00.000-04:00

It seems almost coincidental with Maryland leaving the ACC and that amazing win against ranked Virginia over the weekend, that I run across an old, unposted blog post from Maryland Midnight Madness last fall.

A Testudo statue in Stamp Student Union...

A blurry picture with our best player (Justin! D'oh!), Dez Wells! Here's funny story. The guy in line in front of me wanted the players to sign his poster with a blue sharpie, but Dez expressed his dislike for the color blue and refused, signaling his forced departure from Xavier a few years ago...

Me and Charles Mitchell with the 2002 National Championship trophy, woohoo!

Now on to the Madness! The iconic Cole Field House...

There was a lot of nostalgia since we were in Cole, but the program seemed a little long, especially for the attention span of undergrads!

Introduction of former coaches and players

On to the scrimmage!

Unfortunately my presence at at pre-season events doesn't bode with my teams. Attending training camp for my Skins and Maryland Madness for my Terps have both amounted to less-than-stellar seasons. Womp womp.

What do my fellow Terps think? Are you sad/glad that Maryland is moving to the Big Ten? ~~Think we can make a run in the ACC Tournament and make the Big Dance?~~ Nope.

Wedding Weekend: Queen City Nuptuals

2013-10-05T14:37:00.000-04:00

Bill is one of Justin's roommates from college (there were a total of eleven guys in one house, so you can imagine the stories...), and one of the most frequent visitors we've hosted in our DC home. When it came time for him to tie the knot with his long time girlfriend Jenny, Justin and I had to make a visit to Cincinnati, in order for us to return the favor and indulge in some shenanigans.

We started off the morning of the wedding...at the gym. Yes, we were on vacation, and it is a time to relax; however, Justin and I knew we would be making some bad decisions throughout the weekend. Besides, we had to "mitigate the damages" of our first meal of the day in the Queen City, the breakfast of champions, Skyline Chili! If you've never had Cincinnati-style chili, it is a must try! Hard Times Cafe in the DC Metro area makes a decent 3-way, but nothing compares to the original!

Here's a shot of my partially eaten 3-way (that means it's topped with chili, onions, and cheese).

A 3-way is not complete without some chili cheese coney dogs on the side! Yummy!

After our hearty breakfast (or was it lunch?) we got ready and met up with the rest of our friends. Because the wedding ceremony took place ten to fifteen minutes away in Ault Park, we boarded shuttles at the hotel and enjoyed a little scenic drive to our destination. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the beautiful sights, but I guess I was having too much fun getting reacquainted with some old friends.

As I had mentioned, the ceremony and reception took place at Ault Park, inside a beautiful pavilion hall. Here's a shot of the bride and groom surrounded by their bridal party.

The gorgeous wedding cake with beautiful cascading flowers!

The food was awesome and filling. The meal was served family style and there was plenty to go around the table. Here's a shot of my tasty salad topped with popcorn, yum!

We sat at table 8, and yes that is Justin's hand demonstrating "the shocker." We're a classy pair ;)

I swear, Ault Park looked like something out of the English countryside! Very picturesque and pretty!

Afterwards, we went to a karoke bar that was near our hotel.

Say Cheese!

James and Rich smiling for the camera!

Bottoms up!

Of course our night didn't end there. Because the DC area does not have the actual restaurant, we just had to get some White Castle. As Justin always says, "the frozen kind is not the same as the real thing." Determined to get our fix, the fellas in the picture below made a White Castle run, via taxi cab. Although the chosen mode of transportation made us wait a little longer for this tasty treat, at least the guys chose to be responsible with their late night trip. The rest of us that stayed behind piled into our friends' (i.e. the Jones') hotel room, to await the arrival of the slider/chicken ring goodness!

We had such a great time in Cincinnati with Justin's college friends. It's always hard to say good bye and head back into reality. I think Cincinnati wanted us to stay a little longer than we had planned because our flight home was super delayed! By the time we got home, it was well past midnight. Our dinner options were very limited for a Sunday night, so we went to one of the few places that would be open on the Hill-Tune Inn of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives fame!

I got the Tuna Melt with Tater Tots...

And Justin got the Country Boy Omelet (ham, sausage, bacon, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, cheese) with a side of Tots.

Yes, our diet during the trip was very unhealthy, but we had so much fun! Eating "awesome food" only once in a while won't hurt us :)

Weekend Review: Kollaboration DC and My First Attempt at Rucking

2013-09-28T14:22:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend my sister and I went to Kollaboration DC. Kollaboration is a talent showcase featuring Asian Americans that started on the West Coast. When my Yelp Elite status brought an opportunity to see this show (with VIP status to boot!) I just jumped at the chance and brought Jill with me. Here is the sampling of some of talent which consisted of various different types of singers (i.e.: bands, solo acts, acoustic performers, etc.).

There was even some spoken word! I'm typically not a fan of spoken word, but George Yamazawa's poem on Jeremy Lin was pretty cool!

Here is a picture of local dance group, The Diamond Family consisting of two groups--The Upperclassmen and the Kickrocks Crew. I miss #abdc! Wah!

Near the end of the show they had a freestyle vocal contest. This little kid had a lot of swagger. He sang a Chris Brown song and it was adorable!

Asian Pop Group Blush even performed!

A group shot of all the participants

If we had thought bubbles over our heads we'd be saying, "Sooo many Asians!" LOL

After the show, we walked to GBD (in heels no less!) for some grub! I started my meal with one of their house punches, the Cherry on Top.

I got the fried chicken bao bun (on the left) and popcorn shrimp (on the right).

The Luther (aka: doughnut sandwich) under the spotlight...

In addition to show watching and stuffing our faces, this was the weekend Jill and I decided to start really training for our GoRuck Light at the end of the October. What is a GoRuck you may ask? Basically, this link provides all the details. :) Our GoRuck Light takes place over 4-5 hours and will cover roughly 7-10 miles with various physical challenges in between. Did I mention we have do all of this with a weighted backpack? Approximately 12 lbs./2 bricks if you are 150 lbs. and under; twice that much if you weigh more. Since they were having a buy-one-bring-your-buddy-for-free deal a few months ago, I figured that we should sign up. Great idea at the time, but I forgot that I would currently be in my "hibernation" period where I put on all this fat, LOL!

Initially, we just dumped the bricks in a plastic bag because we wanted to get started right away. We would later realize (and my back would clearly tell me by throbbing in pain) that this is not what we should have done. The bricks kept moving around and they were literally digging into my back. Ouch. Lesson learned.

Rucking around Capitol Hill. This caption should read, "Wait for me!" because for some reason Jill and I felt like kids that missed the school bus (and were now running after it, hahaha!)

After that rough first go 'round, we figured we might as well do it proper and follow the instructions on the website on how to properly wrap your bricks. First you put two bricks together and your wrap it around three times with duct tape. Then you do it again going the other direction (length-wise).

We even went the extra mile and wrapped it in bubble wrap. They say it helps with the shifting.

Voila! The finished products.

I hope we're ready by the end of the October! I'll definitely do a write up to let you all know how it went!

Weekend Review: Food and Football

2013-09-23T11:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Long time no see! I know it's been about a month since I last posted, so my activity level on this blog has been looking a little something like this:

Unfortunately my work blocked blogger (the blog writing website I use) which prevents me from writing and reviewing my posts in a timely manner. How annoying! Don't you hate it when work gets in the way of things? LOL, I kid, but I'll try to post at least once a week despite this setback.

This past weekend was one of the few weekends we were in town so we opted to make the best of our time at home since we would be traveling again in a couple of weeks. This weekend also happened to be the first time I wasn't able to score tickets to Virgin Mobile Freefest which was kind of a bummer. But on the bright side, I already saw two of the acts Vampire Weekend and Kaskade earlier this year. Oh, well maybe next time.

Anyway, I started off my weekend bright and early at 8am (!!) on Saturday morning with a strength class at my box. I usually don't do crossfit on the weekends since my box is kind of far from my house (It is right next door to my job which is why I go after work). I made an exception this time because it was a strength focused class (i.e.: bench press, skull crushers, etc.), unlike a typical WOD. I definitely want to go again...if I can get my butt up early enough! ;)

After working out Justin and I went to the Tyson's Bagel Market for some breakfast sandwiches. I got my favorite, lox and cream cheese with all the fixings and Justin got a sausage, egg and cheese. They were both on everything bagels of course!

After our filling breakfast, we had to head home to get ready to go to the Maryland-West Virginia Football game. After swinging by my parents' place to grab the tickets and dropping off the boys we were on our way to M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

The hyped up student section on the far right. Oh, to be young again...

The first pic we took together before the torrential downpour. As you can see by my perfectly fluffed bangs it hadn't started to rain hard yet...

My Terps about ready to score...

Touchdown!

During halftime, Justin was mesmerized by the male baton twirler, but in all honesty he was really good!

Another shot of us, now completely drenched in a nearly empty stadium after everyone was seeking cover.

After a rousing 37-0 shutout victory, Justin and I headed back to pick up the Frenchies from my parents' place, but not before grabbing some grub to celebrate the win. We hadn't been to Wing Stop in a while so we figured we should check it out while we were in the area.

The french fries (lightly dusted with cinnamon sugar) and parmesan wings.

The lemon pepper wings (our favorite!)

And the mild buffalo wings (I compromised for Justin 'cause I usually like it hot! :)

Whew! After a meal like that you know I gotta get back on plan on Monday! I hope you all had a good weekend, too!

A Blog Break and Our Trip to Boston

2013-09-16T18:17:00.000-04:00

Excuse the radio silence...

I know it's been about a month since my last blog post and I apologize for not keeping you informed about all things Brioni. My work initially blocked all things blog-related but has since removed the block (I don't write these at work, I swear! ;)

Anyway, I have a bunch of half finished posts that I'll try to complete so sorry ~~I'm not sorry~~ if it seems like "old news."

* * * * *

Now back to the regularly scheduled ~~old as heck~~ blog post. :)

Before and after the wedding, Justin and I spent some time in Boston. We stayed near Fenway for the duration of Boston leg of the trip. As soon as we arrived, we hit up a nearby brewery called Boston Beer Works. They make all their brews in house so of course I opted to get a sampler! My favorite ones were the the blueberry beer (the second from the left) with fresh blueberries and the pumpkin beer on the far right, rimmed with cinnamon and sugar!

We also watched a Sox/Yankees game at Fenway. It was a packed house to see this rivalry!

As intimate and historical as Fenway is, I like Nationals Ballpark better. Call me biased, but I like how at Nats Park they have beer vendors that serve you in your seat. I like having cupholders. Where else can you get a Ben's half smoke and a Shake Shake burger in the same place? Although Nats Ballpark is a gargantuan stadium full of concrete, I like having a view of the entire field no matter where you sit. I must value modern conveniences more than nostalgia. ;)

With all the injuries the Yankees had and the whole A-Rod scandal, I'm sure this game could have been more epic...but it was still a fun experience since I had no loyalty to either team.

See how full it was?

The bullpen. It looked like if you were seated close enough you could reach down in it!

The Green Monstahhhh (said with Bostonian accent)!

Surprisingly, although the Red Sox were crushing the Yankees the crowd stayed for a majority of the game. At the end of the game, the droves headed out...probably looking for something to eat.

So that's what we did :)

Honestly, the food outside of the ballpark at the various carts tasted better (and had better value!) than the food in the ballpark!

In addition to hitting up a baseball game, we also had a side trip to Plymouth Rock.

Here's a replica ship, perhaps like the one the early settlers sailed in on.

Justin and I thought it was interesting how these boats were docked. You would drop anchor in this inlet and a little rowboat would take you to the dock.

Ta-da! The Plymouth Rock. Sorry for the shadow, I couldn't get a good angle!

Apparently, this is only a small piece of the huge boulder the Pilgrims landed on. Instead of thinking of Pilgrims, Native Americans and whatnot, all I could think of was the famous (or infamous?) line from Malcolm X referring to Plymouth Rock. You know which one it is ;)

So that was our Boston trip in a nutshell! I'll leave you with a perfect shot of my Spanish latte from Pavement Coffeehouse!

Wedding Weekend: Ben and Ashley's Cape Cod Wedding

2013-09-14T17:33:00.000-04:00

Weddings are always a fun time, especially when they take place in a location you've never visited before and the wedding has a unique theme to it. When Justin's friend from high school invited us to his wedding in Sandwich, Massachusetts (i.e. "the Cape Cod area"), both of us knew we were in for a unique experience, considering the groom's personality and sense of humor. The wedding took place at a campground, and guests were provided cabins, for lodging purposes if you chose to stay the night following the wedding festivities. Neither Justin nor I had been to "the Cape Cod area," nor had we attended a non-traditional wedding like this one. This trip called for some special music, Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa! :)

The weather was perfect and the ceremony had an interesting twist to it that was far from the traditional seating arrangement you would be accustomed to in a regular "church" wedding.

A shot of the snazzy footwear!

Because the wedding was in the Quaker fashion, everyone got a chance to stand up and say some words to the happy couple. Below are some of the Louisville crew that shared their memories and offered the couple their well wishes.

The happy couple looking lovingly into each other's eyes. How sweet!

After the ceremony, it was time to go to the reception hall for the rest of the festivities. Below is my place setting.

Here's a picture of our place settings. To signify their love of reading, each table was was assigned one of their books. Our table was The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgeman.

Then it was time to eat! Our meal was provide by a local smokehouse and the sodas were local too! I definitely enjoyed eating (and drinking!) my way through Massachusetts.

Instead of a traditional guestbook, they had their guests fill out their marriage advice on postcards. I loved pursuing the eclectic mix of postcards ranging from graphic prints to pastoral Kentucky scenes. On the same table were "Ben and Ashley-themed" Mad Libs. Each guest had to fill one out, and Ben and Ashley would choose one to win a prize.

A shot of the lights and bunting hanging from the ceiling.

The main stage centerpiece was a cow head, a huge tub of marshmallow fluff, and a marshmallow fluff cookbook. I'm not sure why they were there, but I'm sure there was some cool story behind it!

The reception capped off with an epic dance party, but after the reception was over the party wasn't over yet. We went back to our yurt (yes, we stayed in a nomadic dwelling structure used by such people as the Mongolians!) to get out of our dress clothes and into something more comfy!

It's thug life up in this ~~yurt~~ piece!

After we changed, we headed down to the campfire to share some stories (that didn't make the ceremony!) and drink some beers. They even had s'mores so I helped myself.

The fire was so warm and toasty!

All smiles around the campfire!

After the campfire, we got hungry again so we went on a search for food. Because we were out in the woods, a drive-thru wasn't an option. Then a light bulb went off. We would look for the leftover barbecue from the reception! Luckily we found someone that gave us directions to the walk-in refrigerator. And Bingo! We hit the jackpot!

With food in our bellies wandered back to our yurt to get some shut eye. The next day we had breakfast and said our good-byes.

But before we left the newlyweds announced the winner of the last night's wedding mad libs. And wouldn't you know? We won! Do you remember the tub of marshmallow fluff and the fluff cookbook? Well, that was the prize for the winners! ;)

Thank you Ben and Ashley for allowing us to be a part of your special day. Your wedding weekend was truly unique and one we'll never forget!

2013 Redskins Training Camp

2013-08-15T10:14:00.000-04:00

Hello Everybody! I know it has been a minute since you last heard from me. I've been jetting back and forth between here and California, and I have finally gotten a chance to chill for a moment. I promise I'll update you on my California adventures soon enough, but first let me tell you about my experience at the new Redskins Training Camp at Bon Secours, Richmond VA . I was able to score two VIP passes to training camp courtesy of WOW Redskins, so I took my sister along for the ride down I-95! It has been forever since I had been to training camp. Because this is the first year that it will be in Richmond, I thought it would be the perfect time to go!

All smiles!

Look there's Brian Orakpo! He was looking good during training camp! Still taking it a little easy though!

Fun gif time of the training camp action! Can you believe there were thousands of people that showed up to training camp each day? It was such a fun atmosphere, almost like a festival with food vendors and all.

Yup. I love gifs and here's one of RGIII and the rest of the quarterbacks taking some snaps.

Special teams practicing with a soccer ball!

The highlight of my training camp experience was at the end when we got a chance to meet the players up close, and get some autographs. Being in the VIP section, we were corralled off and couldn't leave until all the players went inside the building. This meant that we had to stay at least an hour after training camp was over; however, it was well worth the chance to get some autographs and see some players. Unfortunately, I didn't buy any merchandise for the players to sign because I honestly didn't think I was going to get any autographs...but luckily I was wrong. :)

Here's Logan Paulsen (TE) and right next to that pic is the shot of his autograph! Right next to Paulsen's autograph is Pat White's (QB)!

Here are Josh LeRibeus' (G) and Josh Morgan's (WR) autographs.

Here are Reed Doughty's (S) and Kai Forbath's (K) autographs. Thank God we stopped by the WOW booth beforehand and got these stickers. Without them, I wouldn't have anything for the players to sign!

I really was running out of things for the players to sign, so I resorted to getting my credentials signed. Here is Kory Lichtensteiger's signature. Showing the linemen some love as the hubby likes to say.

On the other side of my credentials, I got Chris Chester's autograph. #morelinemenlove

After my badge was all filled up, I resorted to using Jill's badge to get some autographs. Here is rookie WR Skye Dawson's autograph.

And one year vet, Chase Minnifield's (DB), autograph.

But the showpiece of them all can be seen below.

With the help of my sister's scouting, I was I able to score both RGIII and Alfred Morris' autograph! Whee! Despite being mobbed, they were both very kind in staying and signing autographs.

To cap off our long, but fun day, Jill and I walked over to nearby Buz and Ned's Real Barbeque of Bobby Flay Throwdown fame

All in all I would say the day was a complete success! Despite the somewhat long drive (especially because we hit traffic), I got to see the Skins' new training camp facilities, and I was able to get 12 autographs! #shouldveboughtafootball But who knows? If I did buy a football, I probably wouldn't have gotten as many autographs or any at all! Isn't that how it always is? :P I am super pumped for the upcoming season! #HTTR!