Those Hardings

Born to run.

2012-02-18T21:50:25Z

I read this book and I think it changed my life. Below are a few of my favorite quotes.

“You don’t stop running because you get old. You get old because you stop running.”

“We were born to run; we were born because we run. We’re all Running People, as the Tarahumara have always known.”

“Think Easy, Light, Smooth and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t care how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practiced that so long you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooooooth. You don’t have to worry about the last one — you get those three, and you’ll be fast.”

“Blueprint your feet, and you’ll find a marvel that engineers have been trying to match for centuries. Your foot’s centerpiece is the arch, the greatest weight-bearing design ever created. The beauty of any arch is the way it gets stronger under stress; the harder you push down, the tighter its parts mesh. No stonemason worth his trowel would ever stick a support under an arch; push up from underneath and you weaken the whole structure.”

“Putting your feet in shoes is similar to putting them in a plaster cast,” Hartmann said. “If I put your leg in plaster, we’ll find forty to sixty percent atrophy of the musculature within six weeks. Something similar happens to your feet when they’re encased in shoes.”

“Everyone thinks they know how to run, but it’s really as nuanced as any other activity,” Eric told me. “Ask most people and they’ll say, ‘People just run the way they run.’ That’s ridiculous. Does everyone just swim the way they swim?” For every other sport, lessons are fundamental… “Running is the same way,” he explained. “Learn it wrong, and you’ll never know how good it can feel.”

“Imagine your kid is running into the street and you have to sprint after her in bare feet… You’ll automatically lock into perfect form–you’ll be up on your forefeet, with your back erect, head steady, arms high, elbows driving, and feet touching down quickly on the forefoot and kicking back toward your butt.”

“Shoes block pain, not impact!
Pain teaches us to run comfortably!
From the moment you start going barefoot, you will change the way you run.”

Sweets + girl talk.

2012-02-18T20:38:08Z

Abbie and I only have the chance to get together every few months. But when we do, we make it count.

Like Thursday night. We met at Beard Papas and as soon as our cream puffs were purchased, it was like hitting “play” on a conversation that had been temporarily paused for the last six months. (I love blogging. Not only did Abbie and I meet through blogging, but because we both blog regularly, we already know what’s going on in each other’s lives we can skip the small talk and get right to the good stuff.) Abbie and I are soul sisters and our conversations are the best!

We caught up over incredible cream puffs and when the shop closed we went two doors down to Grom to split a large hot chocolate and a small gelato and talk for a couple more hours. We’re not messing around here, people. We are serious about our sweets.

It was a great time. Can’t wait for our next get-together.

Valentine’s Day

2012-02-18T21:13:34Z

Our Valentine’s gifting was pretty low-key. I hid little sticky-love-notes around the house, in Klane’s shoes and coat pockets and on his toothpaste for him to find throughout the day. Klane surprised me with a dozen red roses (he isn’t usually big on flowers so this was a fun surprise!).

We spent the evening on a double date with good friends, the Koellings, on a photo booth crawl through the East Village. Lindsay is amazing and a creative genius and planned out the whole night. It was so much fun. We started with a delicious dinner at The Smith, then took pictures in the photo booth in the basement. Then we walked around the village and hit up two other spots with photo booths to take more pictures.

Prior to this night I was a “photo booth virgin” as Lindsay put it. I had never been inside a photo booth! So this evening was especially fun for me as I discovered the fun of getting cosy with your lover in a photo booth.

This was a perfect date night activity, from the nice dinner to the enjoyable nighttime walk to snuggling up with your honey in the photo booths to having a little memento at the end of the night – our photo strips will be framed and our memories saved forever! Thanks Koellings for a fun night!

Harper Lu.

2012-02-15T15:30:08Z

I have a new friend. Her name is Harper Lu. She’s pretty much the cutest thing ever. Seriously, look at that hair! I’m obsessed.

We’re already on good terms, Harper and I, since she decided to come right on her due date, which happened to fall on my day off. Presumably this was so that I could come visit her in the hospital. I’m told she also sleeps like a dream. She’s pretty great, if you ask me.

I am so happy for Casey and Todd. There’s always such a special feeling in the hospital room during those first few hours with a new baby. Peace, quiet excitement, and lots of love… I just love first-time parents. My little visit this afternoon made me so happy. Congratulations, you two. She is beautiful!

A Saturday date.

2012-02-18T20:49:48Z

Split a caramel hot chocolate and a pretzel croissant upstairs at City Bakery.

Shopped at the sporting goods store around the corner (Klane tried on shoes, I offered opinions), and both got some new cold-weather running gear.

Found a great little spot nearby with amazing Japanese sandwiches and wings.

Enjoyed good conversation and the feeling of wandering the city at night, holding hands with my love.

Super Bowl Sunday

2012-02-13T21:13:31Z

We invited the Egans, Koellings and Mathenys over for a little Super Bowl party on Sunday. I made slow-cooker bbq pulled pork and baked mac and cheese, and everyone brought a little Super Bowl snack to share. It was really fun to have friends in our home – the first time we’ve hosted in this apartment – and good to get together again. (Galbraiths, you were missed!)

I should have taken a picture of our delicious food, but I did snap a couple of the group enjoying the evening.

The girls took turns feeling Casey’s baby kick. She is due next week and I’m so excited to meet the Matheny’s baby girl! (Dear baby Harper, please come now!)

The Giants won (go New York!!), the game was close, and Madonna’s halftime show was pretty impressive (seriously, how old is she?). But since all of us either work in the advertising industry, used to, or are married to someone who does, the Super Bowl commercials were probably the highlight of the production. I noticed we’d all be talking and laughing, but everyone paid attention to the TV as soon as the commercials came on. It was pretty funny. There were some great ads this year, my personal favorite being the Ferris Bueller remake (it’s one of Klane’s favorite movies, and the first movie we watched together).

Alexa’s Birthday

2012-02-09T01:38:59Z

Alexa and I met on a sunny Saturday afternoon on 18th Street to celebrate her birthday. If anyone deserves to be celebrated, it is this girl. She is a wonderful person and a great friend.

We celebrated over the Banana Peel hot chocolate at City Bakery. Their hot chocolate is notoriously rich and ridiculously good (don’t even get me started on the homemade marshmallows), and the Hot Chocolate Festival during the month of February is the perfect excuse to overload on sugar and try their unique daily flavors. (I hope to make it back for the Caramel, the Peanut Butter Barge, and the Ode to the Polar Bear this month!)

No birthday would be complete without cake with a candle, the birthday song, a wish and a present. Happy happy birthday, friend. I love you!

Night at Carnegie Hall

2012-02-05T03:25:37Z

We had the opportunity to go to a concert at Carnegie Hall last night. My friend (and visiting teaching companion!) Jihea happens to be a concert pianist and is part of the Ardelia Trio. She was nice enough to get us tickets for her performance at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall last night, as well as an invitation to a fancy pre-concert reception at the famous Russian Tea Room restaurant next to Carnegie Hall.

We arrived at the Russian Tea Room and were directed into an elevator which took us to a gorgeous upstairs room filled with well-dressed people sipping wine and nibbling hors d’oeuvres. It was all very fancy. Klane had to hold me back so I wouldn’t whip out my giant camera and start snapping pictures of everything (something about this being an inappropriate time for obvious photography…?), but that didn’t stop be from trying to discreetly capture it all on my phone.

This sculpture had live fish swimming inside of it.

After about 15 minutes of sipping sodas, trying all the hors d-voeuvres (the bacon-wrapped scallops = YES), and trying to guess what all these high-class people were schmoozing about, we decided we’d had our fill and made our way over to the concert hall.

This was my first time inside historic Carnegie Hall. The concert was in a smaller recital hall, but it was still beautiful with its chandeliers and draperies. The young women’s group from our ward was there too, so we found seats together.

The concert was amazing! It was so neat to see Jihea perform. I always knew she was talented (to make a career as a concert pianist in NYC you’d have to be!) but I had never seen her play, and it was impressive. The trio played pieces by a composer named Sophia Serghi, who introduced each piece and explained when and why she wrote it, the inspiration behind it, or the story she was trying to tell with each one. That was great, because I got so much more out of it and could really feel what she was trying to portray. The music was beautiful and complex, and I was amazed at how music can convey feelings or tell stories so effectively without using words.

(The cutest part was after the performance when Jihea’s 4-year-old son Aaron came up and brought her roses on stage. Adorable!)

We are not very cultured, but it was fun to get dressed up and pretend for a night. :) We really enjoyed the evening!

First day at BBDO

2012-02-01T02:36:06Z

Klane started his new job today! His new office is actually right around the corner from his old office, just a five minute walk through Rockefeller Center between the two buildings. His first two days have been a little slow, just getting settled in, but he’s really happy with the change so far. He’ll still be doing the same thing (art direction, mostly digital), but BBDO is a larger agency with a lot more clients. They have some big accounts and are known for producing a lot of work. And the biggest perk of this new job is Klane’s new partner: his good friend Pat! Pat is hilarious and I’m sure they will have a ton of fun (a little too much fun…?) working together every day. I’m excited for them.

I love a good weekend.

2012-02-01T03:03:30Z

Our Saturday started with breakfast in bed and a run around the park. Have you ever tried broiled grapefruit? You should. It’s amazing. We had ours with poached eggs and toast.

It was Klane’s first day in his new barefoot shoes, so we did a shorter run (and I’m going to spend the rest of the weekend massaging his calves, I’m sure. The first few weeks in barefoot shoes are rough).

We spent a little time cleaning and organizing around the apartment before getting ready. It seemed like a red lipstick kind of day.

Side note: I got this new shade over Christmas break and I think it works a lot better than the one I’ve been using. It looks better with my skin tone and it is just way more wearable. It stays on all day and doesn’t smudge, even while eating and drinking. Viva Glam 1 by Mac – I’m a huge fan.

Later I headed to the grocery store to get some things for Sunday dinner. I needed to go to Fairway on 72nd, and made the most delightful discovery when I realized that riding the train there takes less time than walking to Best Yet from our apartment. Sweet! I think my life just improved tenfold.

The weather was gorgeous today. It was a nice walk through Verdi Square and up Broadway to the market. I love the Upper West Side, with its fruit stands and news stands and strollers and sidewalk booksellers. It’s a happy place.

Fairway was absolutely nuts on a Saturday, but that store is so fantastic that it was worth fighting the crowds. The whole trip took less than an hour. Not bad.

We spent the afternoon working on various projects, reading blogs (me), and playing Battlefield (Klane). Later we got Chinese takeout at the shop on the corner and watched a movie. Klane picked The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and I got extremely bored. Haha.

I’m not a huge fan of old movies… I know a lot of people love old movies, but I think that movies are so much more exciting and entertaining the way they’re made today. Anyway. It was a great Saturday, the perfect balance of relaxing and getting things done.