So Type A

One of my Favorite Snacks

2012-01-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago, in the midst of preparing for Love of Friends 4, we were holding a meeting/sew night at my house, and it was Regina's turn to bring a snack.

She showed up, opened her back and said, "Ok, I know you said you have cheese and crackers, so I brought some sweet potatoes and avocados."

I blinked at her.

"Um....ok?" was all I could come up with, not really sure what I was supposed to do with this information/ingredients.

She proceeded to boil the sweet potato, slice up the avocado, and once the potato was cooked through sliced it up as well.

Then she piled a slice of sweet potato, avocado, and cheese onto a cracker and handed it to me.

It was absolutely delicious.

The best thing about this snack, besides how easy it is to create, is that its quite satisfying, while being somewhat healthy. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've read that both sweet potatoes and avocados are "super foods", and most of the time when I make it now, I don't even use crackers, just pile the avocado and cheese onto the sweet potato and enjoy.

It's the perfect comfort food for a cold and rainy winter afternoon like today.

Easy, Genius, Sustainability

2012-01-18T16:44:00.000-08:00

There are some things I am bad about. For instance, buying new toothbrushes. Precisely will actually go ahead and throw mine out because, as he says, "there's no way those bristles are even doing anything anymore." And then I feel like a child, albeit being grateful for the forcible reminder to get a new damn toothbrush.

Yesterday, I had lunch with a friend, and we were talking recycling (because this is what I do now) and she told me about one of the most awesome products ever.

There is a company called Preserve Products, that make goods from recyclable materials which is awesome in and of itself.

Even more awesome, is that one of these products are toothbrushes.

But wait. It gets better. Not only are the toothbrushes made from recyclable materials, BUT when you buy them, the packaging they come in also doubles as a shipping envelope so you can send it back to Preserve when you're done, and they turn your old toothbrush into a park bench!!

I have never recycled my toothbrushes before. Never even thought about it.

AND THE MOST AMAZING, AWESOME, INCREDIBLE PART OF IT ALL, is that they have a toothbrush subscription service. Meaning, that for the price of approximately 4 lattes, I will have a new toothbrush delivered to me every 3 months, and I will send the old toothbrush back, so that it can become part of a park bench.

Every single thing about this makes me so happy.

Resolved 2012

2012-01-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

Since the world might end on 12-21-12, this year's resolutions is also kind of a bucket list.

1. Read more fiction.
2. Plan, prepare, and cook a fancy multi-course dinner party for 10 of my friends, complete with paired wine.
3. Finish the Pittsburgh marathon with my best time ever. (4:30 would be awesome, but I'll settle for under 5 hours.)
4. Once a week, pick up the phone and call someone who isn't my Mom just to say hi and talk.
5. Visit my sister in Rome.
6. Buy a mega-bus ticket to a city I've never been to before, and go for a weekend.
7. Wear only the clothes I own that I love, and give away those I don't.
8. Increase philanthropic giving.
9. Get back to yoga.
10. Keep my houseplants alive.

2012 is going to be a good year. Though really, I could use a little more time, so if we could get an extension on the apocalypse, that would be great.

We Went Through a LOT of Bramble... and a LOT of Champagne!

2012-01-02T20:07:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I ushered in the new year at a cabin in West Virginia with friends, flannel, fires, several bottles of champagne, and little cell phone service. It was lovely.

Notable Quotes from New Years 2011-2012

"We might starve. STARVE!"

"It's been a long time since I've shot a gun."

"Ok, so we make a right on this road, and then we'll pass... and I quote... 'the old barn' on our right."

"This trip just turned into the Oregon Trail. We are now traveling at a GRUELING pace."

"I thought I saw a deer. Turns our it was a mailbox."

"We brought our composting!"

"I can't wait to buy bullets!"

While lost in the woods on a hike.
"Alright guys. I've seen enough horror movies to know that this is the point in which we should absolutely split up."

- "Are we gonna watch the ball drop?"
- "I think that's some kind of rule."
- "I've never seen it before."
- ::the whole group:: "EVER?!?!"
- "I've always been somewhere partying."

- "What's the verdict on the Hunstman daughters?"
- "The brunette is hot."
- "The brunette is really hot, she looks like her Dad."

When the caviar was served.
"We are seriously the fanciest cabin-folk around."

The Pittsburgh Party Circuit

2011-12-13T07:22:00.000-08:00

Precisely: Wait, so what's this event on Thursday?

Me: The Holiday Hootenanny.

Precisely: Didn't we just go to that for Halloween? Does this happen multiple times per year?

Me: No. That was the Halloween Hooha. Completely different party.

I love this town.

I will have a green thumb.

2011-12-11T12:11:00.001-08:00

"About a month ago I got a cactus. A week later, it died. I was really depressed because I was like 'Damn! I am less nurturing than a desert.'"
- Demetri Martin

The above sentiment pretty much wraps up my experience with plants. It's not that I don't like plants, but I apparently have a hard time remembering to take care of things that don't actually remind you to take care of them. Pets and babies have this figured out, which is why I am an excellent pet/baby-sitter.

Over the summer, Precisely and I had a grand vision of keeping fresh herbs in our kitchen, and doing all kinds of flavorful cooking. He bought a basil plant, and I picked up some parsley from the farmers market. Approximately 2 weeks later it looked like this:

So we went back to using dried herbs for flavoring, and I once again gave up on the status of house plants. The status that says, look at my grown-up house, where there is so much stability and care-taking that living things grow and thrive here.

While home for Thanksgiving, my extremely-talented-when-it-comes-to-keeping-plants-alive mother found herself with some extra little houseplants, and promptly re-potted them and told me I was taking them home.

I rose to the challenge, going to Ikea and buying shelving for the plants to sit on so they will get sun, as well as more potted plants. I will have plants, and I will remember to water them, and they will not die.

So far, so good.

Look Mom, they're still alive!!

But the real exciting addition to our home in terms of plant life is the Christmas tree that Precisely got. It's darling, and smells great, and definitely makes the fact that it's been dark for hours before I get home less depressing.

Tis the season.

Typical Tuesday Night in the Halling-Preis Household

2011-11-29T19:50:00.001-08:00

Me: What are you looking for?

Precisely: I need a cable that looks like a headphone piece on one end, and those red and yellow pieces on the other end.

Me: Ohhh. I definitely had one of those at the Bloomfield house. But I don't think I brought it with me when I moved.

Precisely: That's exactly the problem. It's something we all had, but no one lives in those houses anymore.

Precisely: They're like the unicorns of computer cables.

Me: ::blink::

Ideas Worth Spreading

2011-11-13T17:54:00.001-08:00

I just got home from TEDxPSU, an independent TED conference held today at Penn State University. I went, because the CEO and Founder of Thread, the social-venture start-up I work for was one of the speakers.

It's been a long day, and I'm exhausted, but my brain is swirling, and I need to spend some time on my couch in my flannel pajama pants before I can attempt sleep. It was a good day. Full of learning, and discussion, and hearing about new ideas, or experiencing a new perspective on a universal truth. There are a lot of good people doing wonderful things in our world. Unfortunately, there are so many problems.

It can get kind of overwhelming when you're hearing these talks all day to think about climate change, our current political state of affairs, the rise of women suicide bombers, and how the worlds next wars will be fought over water, and all the other horrible things happening, and mistakes we've made as people, and things we're doing to contribute to the destruction of our world and our societies. There were times today things seemed quite overwhelmingly bleak.

But there's action that can be taken, and people hopeful and passionate enough about that action to climb on stage and talk about it in front of thousands of people. And there are thousands of people listening, wanting to educate themselves, and wanting to know what they can do to make a difference, and that is hopeful. And inspiring.

And so, when my boss got up on stage to talk about the work we will do being in Haiti, and described the events that lead to the creation of our company, and explained how we exist by seeing resources and opportunity amidst abject poverty and trash, I was so proud to be sitting in the audience knowing that I am a part of that.

Our world is a mess. But the good news is there are actions we can take. The problems are huge, but we're not powerless. There are people that still want to do good. That is heartening.

If you need inspiration to start making a difference, I sincerely suggest you check out TED talks. There are hundreds of amazing speakers, and concepts, and the content is available for free. We have access to more information then we ever have before, it's a gift we should use.

All the Pumpkin Things!

2011-11-09T07:31:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago in college, my roommates and I started a tradition of a party that consisted of eating pumpkin flavored things in the fall. We called it Fall Fest. I know, we're like copy-writing geniuses.

We held fall fest last weekend, and it was delicious.

What's cool about Fall Fest though, is that it's started to grow up with us. We no longer take the bus to Giant Eagle to stock up on pre-made pumpkin flavored treats - this year we made our own pumpkin inspired dishes, with ingredients we bought from stores we drove to in our cars. (Or maybe in our roommates car as is my case...)

This year, the menu included bite sized pumpkin spiced chicken tacos, spicy pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread pudding, homemade pumpkin cookies, a cheese plate, a pumpkin cheesecake, various craft beers, and local cider from Arsenal Cider House, and the best chocolate stout sorbet Precisely has made with his new ice cream maker yet.

I know, right? Fall Fest got fancy!

The best part though, of course was the company. My friends are simply delightful, and I love them. We all scatter to spend time with our families over the upcoming Holidays, and it was really nice to carry on our own tradition and spend time together.

In Every Generation There is a Chosen One.

2011-10-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

I have spent the past 2 months watching all 144 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I mean, I've done other things too, but in terms of television entertainment, Buffy was it. It's the most addicting, most gratifying tv show I've ever watched, and I loved every second of it.

Obviously I'm super late to jump on this fan bandwagon, but I think the fact that the show is almost 15 years old, and still this awesome, says a lot.

While there were a lot of great metaphors, themes, and subtexts throughout the show's 7 seasons the discussion around fate, destiny, and loneliness of being "the chosen one" has stuck with me.

It would suck, in a lot of ways to be told at 15, hey this is your destiny, what you've been chosen for, what you're meant to do with your life. And yet, the sometimes paralyzing question, of what the hell am I supposed to do with my life? can seem a lot more overwhelming.

Even scarier, is finding something you do feel drawn towards, and making that leap of faith and throwing yourself into it, without really being sure that this is what you're supposed to be doing. It would be kind of nice if a council of British men would show up and say, "Yep. This is your destiny. Carry on."

I guess knowing would take all the fun out of it.

This is why we run

2011-09-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

"Don't you think it's strange," asked Running Buddy as we were finishing up a 5 mile loop over lunch, "that there are people out there who have never run a whole mile in their life?"

I do think it's strange. But probably, because running is such a major factor of the way I spend my time, particularly now being 8 weeks out from a marathon. I mean, I'm sure its weird to swimmers that there are people who have never swam a mile, but I very well may be one of those people.

Anyway, there are a lot of reasons for running.

And because I like to eat, and drink beer, and my roommate just bought an ice cream maker, exercise will never be an optional part of my life. It doesn't have to running I guess - it's just that running is the only thing that has stuck.

See, the secret to running, is that it doesn't feel good until after those first 3 miles.

Miles 1-3 suck. Almost always. It's like you have to remember how to run all over again. You feel kind of stiff, kind of disjointed, and all the parts of your body are working against one another. Why is it so hard to put one foot in front of the other, and what are you supposed to be doing with your arms?

But, then. Then, you hit mile 4, and suddenly you're warmed up, everything snaps into place, and you stop having to think about it, because you were born to do this.

And then running is fun.

And yea, a lot of that has to do with pleasure center endorphins flooding your body. I mean, we wouldn't run this far if it didn't feel good. But more than that, you have these moments when you hit your stride, and you are so focused on what's happening right now that you are totally present. And suddenly, for a few seconds at least, you know that you are exactly where you need to be, doing exactly what you need to be doing, and you understand the universe and your place in it.

I don't meditate, but I think the goal there is something similar, no?

Anyway it doesn't happen every time, or even on every long-run, and I have yet to discover a recipe of distance, music, weather, or terrain to make it happen. But is it ever worth it, to get out of bed for a couple of hours on the weekend just to try and reach that feeling.

That is why I run.

So while I feel kinda sorry for those who have never run a mile in their life, maybe they've found something else that gets them there. I feel more sorry for the people who run, but never go more than 3 miles, because they don't even know what they are missing.

It's the most wonderful fashion time of the year

2011-09-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

It's starting to get cooler, Pittsburgh colleges are swarming with students, and even though the equinox is a week away, we're coming into fall.

I've been walking around with The Long Winters song, It'll be a Breeze, stuck in my head, because in addition to feeling nostalgic, the opening line is; This fall I don't know if I survived. And while it's more likely that they're talking about a fall, like a tumble, I like to interpret it as though they're singing about not surviving the season.

But I digress, Fall is here - and that means.... Fall Fashion!!!

What with the layers, and the no sweating, and the fabrics, and the boots, is there any better time of year to get dressed in the morning?!

No. There isn't.

In addition to the September issue of Vogue, and NY Fashion week, and back to school feelings (does that ever go away?), I have once again fallen in love with my wardrobe now that my main objective in choosing an outfit is not "what won't be completely sweat through after I walk across the Smithfield Street Bridge?"

This season, I decided I was going to purchase a cape. (Which are very, and completely different than their unfortunate cousin, the poncho, that along with gaucho pants and sweatpants in public, should be banned.)

Luckily, having a roommate that works at ModCloth means that when I mention I'm looking for a cape, he gchats me links of outerwear as they go up on the website.

Which is how I've found myself in the possession of a lovely cape, that has made it's debut today, and which I couldn't be more happy about.

The downside of having a roommate who works at ModCloth, is that a week after I purchased my cape, I get an email from said roommate, with the subject line Cape #2? and a link to a darling new arrival.

Which makes me beg the question, how many capes is it appropriate for a girl to have?

Being Thrown into the Woosh

2011-09-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

My sister, like most college students, took an abnormal psychology class to cover some requirement. Luckily, she did not use this class as license to start analyzing me, but she did share a story about a schizophrenic who talked about something called "the woosh".

I'm paraphrasing here, but I believe the story went something like, the guy was in group therapy and began describing "the woosh".

"Somedays," he said, "you wake up and step right into the woosh, and just go wherever it takes you. Other days you can't get in the woosh, and it just goes right by you."

All the other patients in the group seemed to understand exactly what he was talking about. And since then, my sister references "the woosh" frequently.

My sister has lived most of her life in "the woosh", and probably will continue to, and I'm sure we all know people like that.

I, on the other hand, don't often find my self in "the woosh", except occasionally during scheduled unstructured amounts of time, and even then, I suspect that setting aside time to be in "the woosh", defeats the purpose of "the woosh" entirely.

Girls like me, need more often, to be thrown into "the woosh".

Which happened a couple of weeks ago, during a trip with the Thread team to Haiti, when hurricane Irene shut down JFK, and canceled my flight home.

After a lot of pleading, batting of my eye lashes, and a first class upgrade, I had a new flight, and 4 extra days in Haiti. 4 days, of unplanned time, 4 days out of the office, and 4 days away from the phone/internet.

Hey woosh, sup?

And you know what?

I was challenged. At first. But then I gave in and learned, and discussed, and read. Reflected, rescheduled, shared, connected, played games, danced, sang, and generally had a great time hanging out in "the woosh".

Sometimes it takes being thrown off of your scheduled path, to be assured of what direction you should be going in.

I am trying so hard to like vegetables.

2011-08-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

I've started training for the Philadelphia Marathon. Yay! And it's still fun, since I'm only in the first few weeks, except for one thing that became glaringly apparent, which, is that like most American's my diet sucks. And you can't train with a lousy diet. Your body won't have it.

I'm not hopeless. I stay away from fast food and ~~pop~~ soda, and have even started to cut my meat eating down to a couple of times a week. But, I still love me some icecream, and wine, and oh my god cheese! And these things do not a marathon diet make.

I've written before about my hatred of salad. And it's time for me to just be honest with myself and admit the fact that I don't like raw vegetables. So, I need to do the adult thing, and start finding ways to sneak raw veggies into my diet.

I decided to start this initiative this week with green smoothies. I mean, it's easy. You throw some fruit and some veggies in a blender with some ice and orange juice, and a minute of blending later, you have breakfast! Also, you knock out 4-5 servings of fruits/veggies in one meal first thing in the morning! And you can drink it while you get ready... Multi-tasking!!

Yesterday I had strawberries, banana, spinach, and pea shoots. Today it was strawberries, bananas, and kale. I read a lot of things on the internet that told you the fruit covers the taste of the greens, and you wouldn't notice them, but they are liars. You can totally taste it. And, no, I don't think it tastes good. So far, my strategy has been holding the smoothie in one hand, and a mug of black coffee in the other, to immediately chase the smoothie and get rid of the taste of healthy.

The kicker though, is that I feel great.

Like, full of energy, practically skipping to work in the morning great.

Sigh.

Raw vegetables are so good for us. And you know what? 10 mins of discomfort in the morning, is totally worth feeling good for hours. And hopefully this will eventually translate into running farther, faster, better, stronger.

I'm trying really hard here. That's gotta count for something, right?

Avoiding the Boring

2011-07-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

There's a patch of sidewalk on Smallman street in the Strip District, that has 3 hopscotch games painted on the cement. On each square, in addition to a number is a sentence. Each game tells a story, or makes a statement, and yesterday, while I was walking home, the last couple squares of one in particular caught my attention.

Because I think about quitting a lot of things too.

However, I think that there are few things as tragic as a boring life. And while it's something that can be easily avoided, I think it's also something that can sneak up on you slowly, and by the time you realize it, it's too late. It's a great fear of mine, to wake up 10 years from now only to discover that I've stopped paying attention to living, and have fallen into a routine and am boring.

So, I'm gonna keep on trying to cram in as much experience as I possibly can. Without, you know, losing my mind or anything like that. Although it should be said that crazy people are rarely dull.

The bottom line? Don't quit. 'Cause that would be boring.

Dinner Conversation

2011-07-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

Me- You know what sucks? When you try a new recipe, and it turns out it's gross, and then you eat cereal for dinner.

Precisely- What did you make?

Me- ::sigh:: It was a chilled soup, with plain yogurt, spinach, and chick peas.

Precisely- ::wrinkles nose:: First of all, yogurt, is not a soup.

Me- It's what the recipe called for.

Precisely- No, no, a chilled soup is like a gazpacho. Not yogurt. That is some vegan nonsense.

Me- Yogurt isn't vegan!

Precisely- Either way, it's gross.

Me- Yea, it was yucky. ::eyes up Precisely's dinner plate which is half pasta, half green beans::

Precisely- ::raises eyebrows:: What? Jealous of my Yin Yang of nutrition?

Me- So jealous.

The Anatomy of a Proper Sandwich

2011-07-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

There are some things in life I just know to be true. Things like, I know how to make a good sandwich. While the majority of my culinary skills may not be what one would call advanced, I can make a sandwich that rocks.

Last night, I stopped by my sister's apartment to go to a party. Lynn had made hummus, and bought a bottle of wine to bring, and just when I thought I couldn't be more impressed with her adult-ness, I mention I'm hungry, and she immediately responds with, would you like a sandwich?

Heck yes, I want a sandwich!

So she pulls out a sandwich wrapped in paper and some cheese, and says, this is from Panera, and here's some cheese if you want to add it. (This should have been the first warning sign, any good sandwich already has cheese on it. duh.)

I unwrap and open the sandwich to add the cheese and stared at it. Sitting on the 2 pieces of bread was a slice of tomato, a piece of lettuce, and some green spread, that I assume was a guacamole type substance. I blinked and looked again, but nothing had changed.

"Lynn!!" I yelled.

"What?"

"There's nothing on this sandwich!!"

laughs, "It's vegetarian!"

Which, I mean, come on! Vegetarian sandwiches are great, but they usually involve some mushrooms, or eggplant, or I don't know, anything more than a piece of lettuce and a tomato. I mean really Panera, what do you even call that sandwich? It's an insult to call that thing a sandwich.

Lynn grabbed some turkey out of her fridge, so between that and the added cheese, I actually was able to eat a proper sandwich. And it was good. Just be wary of the vegetarian selection at Panera...

Should be

2011-07-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was a productive, happy member of society. I was up early, and worked hard. I ate a lot of fruits and veggies. I went for a run, caught up with friends, attempted a Pirates game, and enjoyed a torrential summer thunderstorm instead. It was a good day.

Today. Work was alright, and after an evening event was canceled, I found myself with a free night. A rarity in the middle of the week.

And instead of being productive, or doing anything fun, I find myself completely at a lack of what to do with this time, and have ended up curled up on the couch with a book, angsty over the fact that:

I should be going for a run.

I should be doing more work/research.

I should at the very least be reading something substantial, and not a murder mystery.

I should be out somewhere, socializing, meeting new people, maybe even finding myself a date for this weekend.

I should be doing something summery, summer's almost over!

I should be painting my toes, playing the piano, sewing that dress I've been thinking about, making my own crackers, doing something, anything, with this free time.

And while it's important to stay motivated, and important to grow, and to be challenged and do things. Sometimes, what you need is nothing.

So what I'll be doing now is closing up my laptop, and going back to my murder mystery. I'll get back to all those things tomorrow.

Apples not falling far from trees...

2011-07-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I drove across the state with my running buddy, Frank and Tassy. They were going out to the Jersey Shore to celebrate the long weekend and fourth of July. I joined them for the a ride across the turnpike to visit my folks over the weekend.

For those of you who don't know Tassy's story, or how he's become connected to my life, you can read about it here. The shorter version is that Tassy is 18, comes from Haiti, and has quickly become one of my favorite people.

Tassy has a terrific voice, and loves music, but it became quickly apparent to Frank and I that he has not had a lot of experience with classic rock. As he will be attending high school in the fall here in the states, we decided it was only necessary to use these couple hours to introduce him to Zeppelin, Hendrix, the Stones, etc. We set up a Pandora station and were having a great time singing along, drumming on the steering wheel, and generally waxing nostalgic about music, that while certainly not from our time, was what we were raised on nonetheless.

At one point, we turned around to ask Tassy whether or not he liked a particular song, also mentioning that is was great and famous, and therefor implying obviously that he should be loving this, when I realized.

"Oh my god," I said to Frank. "Do you know who we are right now?"

"Who?"

"Our parents!"

And there we were forcing this poor kid to listen to classic rock while we sang along and talked about how great it is on a road trip in the summer.

Music, shameless self-promotion, Katy Perry, n'at.

2011-06-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

The boys over at the awesome music blog Draw Us Lines, were looking for chicks to offer some female perspective to their line-up, and I ::blushes:: was one of the chicks they asked. I guess because I like music and have opinions.

So, for my first piece, I wrote about Katy Perry. Or more accurately how a hipster named Darwin Deez made me really start liking her song Teenage Dream.

You can read it here.

Also, next weekend Draw Us Lines is celebrating their first anniversary with a birthday party that is basically putting all 24 of my birthday parties to shame. Meaning, it's going to be really fun, and you should buy a ticket.

The bet.

2011-06-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

I do not have a good track record with bets. In fact, I can't outright think of a time I've ever actually won a bet, which I suspect may have something to do with my disbelief in the theory of probability. The point is however, that this doesn't stop me from participating when the offer of a bet comes up. Oh god, that's the definition of insanity isn't it?

I have a lot of friends that are runners. This is great. It means I am consistently encouraged to get out of bed, leave the couch, stop working for an hour to meet someone to go for a run. You also form a special bond with your running buddies. It's nice.

After the Pittsburgh marathon, of which several of us ran the full, half, or a relay, we caught the racing bug, and began scheduling races through out the summer. It was determined that the group would run the Race for Roch in Mount Washington in July.

It was all fun and games and witty email chains until Regina threw out the question "Wait, should we make this a bit of a...race?"

To which I, who can never turn down a dose of competition responded with "Oh, I don't know should a group of ambitious relatively type A people make a race a race? Heck yes, we should make this a race! We should make this a race with a cash prize!"

We've decided that rather than cash, the winner gets to assign karaoke songs to the losers while the losers buy the winner their drinks of choice.

This has inevitably lead to emails full of tough talk and threats to pick songs exclusively from Cats, make everyone sing the same Jimmy Buffet song, orders of expensive aged scotch, and the hill work we are all doing in preparation for July 30.

I don't know what I was thinking. I am not a fast runner. Especially not in Pittsburgh July heat, uphill, in the morning. However, I'm hoping that my gut-wrenching fear of karaoke will cause an endorphin induced miracle that allows me to win.

We'll see. In the meantime, I've got hill repeats to sprint.

The wknd!

2011-06-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

5:05

Regina Anderson

just sent you a reminder i JUST got about the bbq

there will be a film crew there

so dress bbq cute

i had no doubts that you wouldn't

BUT

now it's official

oh!

what to wear what to wear!

okay

i'm peacing out

So now I have to figure out what "bbq cute" is, and wear that...

Luckily Redd Up Thread Up is tomorrow! Yay clothing swapping!

Have a delicious weekend.

Hallucinations > Malaria...I guess

2011-06-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

One of the common side effects of most malaria medications is weird dreams. Sometimes anxiety, paranoia, and hallucinations can occur. On the other hand, without it, you know, you risk malaria. And then they just give you the same meds at a much higher dosage.

I was just in Haiti, where it is now the rainy season, and full of mosquitos, and therefor we were all taking malaria medications. I was the only one in the group on chloroquine, which is taken once a week for 6 weeks as opposed to every day for the week you're there. I hadn't thrown-up, or experienced blurred vision, and my dreams are always vivid and weird, so I was under the smug impression that I was avoiding all the possible unpleasant side effects. Until someone in my group told me that by week 4, I'd be swatting at things that weren't there.

On the plane back to Pittsburgh, as we were about to land, I noticed that the woman sitting in front of me had a dog in the bag under her seat. The plane was dark, and the dog was poking his head through the top of the bag, so that was all I could see. He had also been silent the whole flight, so I was surprised that I was just now seeing him. Or was I? I started questioning myself, staring at the dog wondering, "Are you real?" I kept looking away, then looking back to see if he was still there. Eventually, his owner leaned over to pet him, and I relaxed, relieved that I wasn't hallucinating dogs on planes.

I mentioned this to my fellow threadheads as we got off the plane, and we all laughed about it. 10 minutes later in baggage claim, I saw the woman with her dog again.

"That was the dog,"I pointed out to Lee.
"What dog?" he immediately responded.
"Don't. Don't event start with me." I said.

So far, still no side effects, however, I will probably blame any weird behavior on my part for the next 4 weeks on the chloroquine.

And the livin's easy...

2011-05-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

Volunteering at last year's Night at the Tropics. An annual summer soiree benefitting the Aviary. Yay Sundresses!

They say that smell is the sense most closely associated with memory. I would argue that at times music can be a stronger reminder, but the scent thing is definitely true.

Our apartment takes on a certain scent when the air conditioning is on. Not good or bad, just distinctive. I forgot about this until I came home this evening, and as I climbed the stairs was hit in the face with a deluge of memories from last summer.

Summer is here again y'all, and with stuff like this, and this, oh, and this to look forward to I think it will be swell. I hope everyone had a great Memorial day and is wearing lots of SPF!

Running, Endorphins, and Ultra-marathons

2011-05-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

11:00:02 AM Kelsey Halling: so, I finished born to run.

11:00:15 AM Kelsey Halling: wanna do a 50 mile race when we're 27 and at our peak?

11:00:21 AM Running Buddy: duh

I don't know that we actually will. Talk to me in 3 years.

Between reading Born to Run, running the Pittsburgh half marathon, and running a 5k with my girls from Girls on the Run, running has dominated this month.

Luckily, the wet coldness that was April and the better part of May has suddenly broken out into 80 degrees and sunshine. So with no spring, Pittsburgh has catapulted into summer. And that means running weather. It's light out early, it stays light out late, you don't have to wear 20 layers, and you don't spend the first hour with your lungs burning waiting for your body to get numb so that you stop feeling the cold. No, instead, you throw on a t shirt and shorts and run out of the house, and have a great time and wonder why you ever stopped doing this so much.

My favorite part of Born to Run, wasn't the crazy stories of ultra-runners (though they were inspiring), or the evolutionary evidence that homo-sapiens were in fact born to run (though that was fascinating), it was the recounting of the sheer joy of running. Of what it feels like to reach that point of mind-body-spirit connectedness that is all consuming. The realization that not only is running fun, it makes us better people.

Around mile 2 of last weekend's 5k, we hit another hard uphill, and the girls I was running with were starting to slow down.

"If you keep working this hard," I said, "then you'll get endorphins, and that will feel great."

"What are endorphins?" they asked.

"Well, when your body works really hard, it releases these chemicals, called endorphins, which make you feel good as a reward for working so hard."

They nodded before one of them leaned into the hill and took off yelling "Come on, body!"

It was awesome. We finished the race in 40 minutes. I was so proud of them.