13.1 version 2.0

last saturday i ran my second half marathon!

it was roughhh. maybe because the novelty of training had worn off since last year, maybe because there are SO. MANY. HILLS. in seattle, but whatever the reason...this race was definitely a challenge. i would just like to point out that i am NOT an athlete, so i guess it's great i even got myself out there. i've never been one of those people who had sports or running come easy to them -- i mean, let's be serious, when my 4th grade teacher told my mom i needed to get involved in a group sport they picked bowling of all things. even now, the day before the race, my parents told me how surprised they were that i was doing something like this. haha! i actually love running -- i love feeling in shape and knowing i can push my body to crazy extremes, and i love getting time all to myself to be alone with my thoughts and blow off steam -- but even though i've literally run hundreds of miles over the past two years, every single mile has been a challenge for me.


so anyway. back to the race! i'd been sort of dreading it until last thursday, when jack and i drove to century link field to pick up my race packet. the expo was awesome! i left feeling SO pumped and ready to go. the rock & roll race series really is a lot of fun -- loud music, cool people, even a really cute race shirt for participants. i highly recommend. 


i spent the whole day before the race moving boxes from our apartment (on the 3rd floor of a walkup -- talk about a warm-up) into our new house, and our movers came that afternoon to transport furniture. i planned to get a ride to the race start with a friend from issaquah, so (in order to get as much sleep as possible) i slept in a sleeping bag on the floor of our empty apartment the night before. woke up at 5:30 a.m., met up with my friend ali, and drove to the starting line at the space needle! 

 

40,000 people ran this race! it was packed. i was saying prayers of thanks in my head the whole morning because it wasn't raining -- ALL week long it had poured rain, but the morning of the race dawned cloudy and cool...perfect running weather. hallelujah! ali and i started in the 12th corral, so we didn't have to wait too long to get going. 


the first three miles were a breeze (probably because they were mostly downhill, ha) -- i was clocking 8 minute miles and felt great. then the hills started. i'd trained on hilly roads -- including the road we lived off of, which is the side of a freaking mountain and SO steep -- and was expecting it, but still...hills suck. 


we ran from the space needle down to the football / baseball stadiums, over to lake washington and along the shore, up onto a closed portion of the I-90 freeway, then looped back past the stadiums, up the viaduct and back to seattle center. definitely a scenic route, but a tough one for sure. we also ran through two tunnels -- the 90 tunnel after the lake, and another tunnel right before the space needle. in theory i have no problem with tunnels and knew they were coming, but DANG. i do NOT like running in tunnels. i got only a few steps into the first one and had to start talking myself down from a crazy claustrophobia breakdown -- it was so stuffy and dark and crowded and you couldn't see the end once you started, so it felt like you'd never get out. plus i drank too much water in the middle of the race and got a little nauseous, that was fun. i had to walk part of the way because i felt like i was going to lose it. 


but i held it together and finished! i ended up walking a bit more than i would have liked and lost most of the lead i'd created in the beginning, but i was SO happy just to be done. i hobbled through the runner's finishing area, collecting my free snacks and drinks (my favorite part :) and then called b to check if he'd seen me cross the finish line. b and jack had slept at the new house while i was at the apartment, and since we'd figured it would be raining i told him not to watch me along the course and just come for the finish line -- but when i called, he was still on the freeway! wah wah. no spectators for me but that's okay. at least he met me at seattle center after and helped me crawl to the car. :)

here are my official stats:

race time: 2:09:51
rank: 4,658 out of 14,249
pace time: 9:55
division: 434 out of 1,523

not the best -- i was a few minutes slower than last year. :( but hey! at least i finished ahead of 10,000 people! ha. we hung out at the race festival for about an hour after i finished, and when we drove home there were STILL plenty of halfers still running. (not to mention all the full marathon people who still had hours left to go...and this is why i will never ever run a full.) two hours after i got home, the clouds rolled in and started pouring rain again. so glad the heavens smiled down on our runners that morning.

i'm glad i did it! maybe someday i'll run another one, but for now i'm definitely taking a little break. i didn't work out at all this week and it has been glorious...nevertheless, i'm already feeling a little antsy to get moving. i think i'll keep my distances a little shorter for a while, though. :)

ode to nora ephron

we interrupt this massive blogging shortage to bring you a little something that's been on my mind this week. on tuesday, writer nora ephron died. THE nora ephron. the woman who brought us such classics as when harry met sally, you've got mail, julie & julia, and -- of course -- sleepless in seattle.

"i am such a product of nora ephron, and proud of it... i think a little bit like nora ephron might have been my fairy godmother. on my best of days, i like to imagine i am living in a nora ephron movie. maybe even on my worst days, too."

a friend wrote a lovely little tribute to this woman (the quote, above, is from her) and it got me thinking about the impact ms. ephron had on my life as well. if you've ever visited this blog before i'm pretty sure you know how obsessed i am with sleepless in seattle, but here are the reasons why.

when i was 12 i babysat for a really great family i met through church. the mom was in her late 20s and so stylish, funny, and cool -- i wanted to be just like her. i watched her adorable kids at least once a week but my favorite part was when they'd go to bed and i got to raid the mom's stellar collection of chick flicks. one day i stumbled upon sleepless in seattle on a rainy saturday afternoon and watched the entire thing, glued to the tv and this cute little meant-to-be love story. 


from then on i'd catch sleepless in seattle whenever it was on tv and at least a few more times while babysitting. i bought my own DVD during my freshman year of college, watching it any time i needed a nice little break from reality. i watched it again and again during college as my roommates got married, one after another, and i just sat back wishing for my own love story to come along -- waiting in vain for boys to even ask me out on a DATE, let alone to marry them. 


i fell in love with NYC, thanks to that movie. on my first visit to new york, the first place i wanted to go was the top of the empire state building to see where sam & annie met. i worked my butt off in college to qualify for the new york internship program, so i could go and live in nora's city -- a city that will be forever  cemented in my brain the way she portrayed it in you've got mail. ("don't you love new york in the fall? it makes me want to buy school supplies.") b showed up at the top of the empire state building during that internship and asked me to marry him -- a move SO full of fate and destiny that it was the only thing that kept me committed when i was freaked beyond belief to get married. i've easily watched this film 100 times -- with b, by myself, during craft nights, on airplanes, and especially on rainy saturday afternoons. i can quote the entire thing verbatim and notice particular lines cropping up frequently in my everyday life. ("i should get a haircut...but then i'll look like i just got a haircut." i say this to b EVERY time he mentions a haircut.) moving to seattle was a breeze, even though i'd never been to washington before -- i already knew everything i needed to know about this city from sleepless in seattle. 

i think the thing i like so much about sleepless in seattle -- and about all of nora ephron's work, for that matter -- is that there is such a thing as destiny. i firmly believe in kismet, fate, divine intervention, whatever you want to call it, and i believe that everything happens for a reason. i watch for signs every day that tell me i'm on the right or wrong track, and i love feeling like my life is part of some grand cosmic plan. (and yes, i named my business "kismet" because of this movie.) nora was my kindred spirit because she GOT this. and made me feel like i was okay for feeling that way. 


through the years, sleepless in seattle has been my happy place... though i love the other ephron classics as well. i even have a whole theory about how you can define a woman based on her favorite nora ephron movie, but i'll save that for later. 


the world lost a good one this week -- and i'm so glad i have her legacy to keep me company. 

busy busy

wow! things have been cray-zee around here lately so excuse the radio silence. in the past week, i've:

- transported my married life's worth of possessions from one place to another using only my honda accord (plus a moving truck for the big furniture)
- hauled boxes up and down 3 flights of stairs
- ran a half marathon
- cleaned out my old apartment to clear checkout inspection
- learned to deal with the terrible 2's
- unpacked almost an entire houseful of stuff

yeah...it's been busy. but i'm alive! and the sun came out today! life is good. i'll be back with more details on all the aforementioned topics soon, but in the meantime...here's a peek at the new place we call home.

see you soon!

foodie wannabe

this past weekend was blogher food, a conference for foodie bloggers, and this year it was right here in seattle. i didn't have much interest in attending since i do not blog about food, but they opened up the saturday night party to locals so i coughed up the $20 entrance fee and showed up. i hung out with my friend marie, snacked on deep-fried turkey and fancy appetizers and took some really funny photobooth pictures. (they do FLIPBOOK photo booths now, did you know? so awesome.)

(did you know it's really hard to smile when you have an adhesive mustache on your face?) (also i would like to note that despite the giant craze of fake mustaches over the past few years, this was actually my first time using a mustache in any form.)

the party was hosted by a few famous bloggers, one of whom you might have heard of. she was just standing around chatting it up with anyone who wanted to come over, so naturally...i wanted to come over. we bonded over some mutual friends, her awesome platform shoes, and how i gave her cookbook to my mil...it's like we're best friends. :)

grabbed a few more apps, chatted with a few more people and headed home for at-home date night with b. so much better than traveling a long way for a conference! seattle is the best. 

seattle fun

we've been doing lots of fun things in the city lately and i've been bad about sharing them on the blog. so, here you go -- a big fat roundup of awesome seattle stuff.

i had a blogger meetup at inn at the market, an adorable boutique hotel on the north end of pike place market. the view from the rooftop deck was amazing!

another day, b and i had a date night -- a quick visit to the grand opening party for chan's restaurant, followed by a real dinner ;) at lowell's. according to some, lowell's is the location of the rob reiner + tom hanks scene from sleepless in seattle where they discuss dating women ("you don't do it like i do it, you do it in your own suave cary grant way. 'hello diane take a look at these swatches!'") but according to chowhound  that was actually the athenian inn, which i have not yet visited. whatever, the bar in lowell's looked close enough to the real thing so i was good. (also -- they are building a ferris wheel on the pier!!!)

i met my friend alex in utah when both of our husbands were in the same MBA program, and they ended up moving to seattle after graduation too! it has been so, so nice to have a real friend (real = someone who has known me longer than 1 year) in washington and our two little families get together at least a few times every month. they live in queen anne and alex is the BEST adventure buddy since we're both always up for pretty much anything.

last month we checked out the ballard locks on a sunny day. jack thought the boats were amazing.

 

we usually follow our activities up with a tasty lunch date because well, we like to eat. moms get to chat, babies get to bang on the tables and munch on kix cereal. win win. 

this week we rode the monorail downtown so we could go to the flagship nordstrom store and get my favorite trophy cupcakes. jack is in love with trains so it was quite thrilling.

we've got lots more adventures planned for the summer and i can't wait! so many fun things to do around here.

the cutest.

jack and his friend emery are exactly one week apart. they're like two little peas in a pod, except for the fact that one is a girl and one is a boy. same height, same hatred for nursery, same love of pushing mini strollers and shopping carts. i love to watch them play together -- sometimes they'll stop what they're doing, stare at each other for a second, then burst out laughing. i wish i could get in on their jokes.

biiiig saturday

as mentioned before my freak-out about the crib thing, saturday was a big day in the wells household. BIG big. i will share it with you in four parts.

I. i ran 12 miles.

[view from my course, right before it started raining] i'm running the seattle rock & roll half marathon later this month. it's not my first half (see also: SLC marathon 2011) but this one has felt a lot harder when it comes to training. with my prep program, 12 miles is the longest distance you run before the race so it was a big deal to me. also it POURED for at least a mile or two -- not too bad, but definitely not the best experience ever. i feel like a real runner for making it through that ;)

II. book club

came straight home from the run and got ready to host my book club. one of my favorite bloggers, kelle hampton, released a book earlier this year (it's on the new york times bestseller list and she's been everywhere from the today show to NPR, no big deal) -- and they did a campaign where if you ordered 10 or more copies of the book, you could do a skype chat with kelle herself. genius PR move! i was all over that and convinced my book club to join in. saturday was our scheduled chat and it was awesome. she was so nice and friendly and chatty and we got to ask her anything we wanted. such a fun little girl talk sesh and now i feel like kelle is really my friend ;) [which i am totally claiming because i also met her at blogher 2011 AND got her to speak at the upcoming i heart faces conference later this year, so basically...BFF status.]



III. scoot scoot

while we were chatting, b and jack were out running errands and came home with jack's very first scooter! [last time i let b "run errands" on his own ;) ] jack recently discovered razor scooters through some of our friends' kids and has been OBsessed with them, so when b saw this beginner scooter he was so excited to get it for him. i've never seen jack so excited, it was pretty adorable -- he kept his hand on the box the whole drive home, hopped up and down squealing "scooter! scooter!" when they showed it to me and wouldn't get off of it for anything. he even skipped lunch and screamed his head off when i made him take a nap. that, my friends, is the sign of a good toy.

IV. a house!!

this might just be the biggest update of them all! we found out we got approved on a rental house on saturday afternoon. we are SO excited about it -- the house is in redmond, built in the 80s but recently remodeled, with a big wraparound deck and lots of front yard for jack to play in. it will be the first house we've lived in since we got married almost six years ago!

funny story about how we found it: i'd seen the craigslist listing like 4 times but kept throwing it out for various reasons. then, last week, i was talking to our apartment manager, juli, and she mentioned some fellow tenants from our complex were trying to rent a house near redmond -- she emailed me the listing and it was the same house. we checked it out this week and loved everything -- the neighborhood, the landlords, the house. juli is awesome and actually one of the reasons we decided to live here...and now she was totally instrumental in helping us find our next home too. it's a sign!

we'll move in just a few weeks so i'm already freaking out a little bit about leaving our cute little apartment and all of our issaquah friends. change sucks. per usual, i cried a little bit, but overall i'm feeling good. this house was meant to be and i can't wait to have a garage!

end of an era

jack learned how to climb out of his crib yesterday.

this was arguably the most monumental weekend of our married life, for reasons i will expound upon later, but the transition to toddler bed is by far the biggest milestone of them all. and i am NOT happy about it.

last night we were out late with friends and came home to put jack to bed a bit past his usual bedtime, but he was really energetic so he didn't seem to mind. b went to the gym, i put jack down and then vacuumed the apartment. as i was putting the vacuum away, i was startled to hear little footsteps running toward me down the hall. jack has NEVER gotten out of his crib by himself before, let alone opened his bedroom door, so i was pretty surprised to see him.

i let him stay up until b got home to lower the crib to its last notch, but as soon as we put jack back in it -- he climbed out again. and again and again. the 4th time, he hurt his chin on the way down and was showing no signs of stopping any time soon so i decided resistance was futile. thanks to my amazing in-laws who bought us that crib, it's a convertible, so b took the front panel off and turned it into a toddler bed on the spot. by the time that was done it was almost 10 p.m. so jack naturally fell asleep pretty quick.

today he took NO nap because we have church at 1 p.m. and if you think he'd stay in his bed for an early naptime you have another thing coming. he was surprisingly happy when i picked him up from nursery, too happy for the low amount of sleep he was running on, and i started to get nervous. please please please do not let this kid be giving up naptime! we came home and he asked to go to bed at 6:15 so i happily obliged, but it is now almost 8 p.m. and i can still hear him in there, playing and talking and crying. (oh, i should also add we flipped his doorknob around so we can lock him in his room. at least i have that going for me :)

all my friends keep saying it will take at least a week to get him back to his normal sleeping ways, assuming he goes back to them at all, so i'm prepared to wait it out -- but i was just so unprepared for this! moving to a toddler bed was nowhere on my horizon and i am NOT ready to move to the next phase. i'll be the first to admit i use the crib as a babysitter -- not for any long amounts of time, but if i have a conference call or a lot of work to do i'll throw him in his crib early, shut the door and let him play until he falls asleep in there. now he'll be so un-contained...and, heaven forbid, if he decides to give up naps altogether i don't know what i'll do. ughhhh. why do kids have to become independent anyway?! i much prefer having little babies who are easier to control ;)