Comments (18)

By kilax, July 18, 2011 7:14 am

Ugh. I have to go to Louisville today for work. Again. I am a bit sick of going there. Every trip (this will be the third) has been during one of the nation’s heat waves, and I have just felt so gross and hot and uncomfortable. Ugh.

But! I have something that will make this trip a bit better – new luggage:

Before I was using a carry-on bag that only has handles (the shoulder strap broke off) and while it is good for driving trips where I don’t have to lug it far, it was making me crazy carrying it to the office, and all over the airport.

Hopefully the new luggage will make the traveling part a lot easier. And me a lot less crankier.

Do you have decent carry-on luggage?

Comments (17)

By kilax, June 28, 2011 9:38 pm

It is AMAZING how much you can do during a workday evening when your commute is only 15 minutes. Ah, work travel. I normally get more sleep and a lot more free time than when I am home… but I am away from Steven. Sad face.

Anyway, today we finished work at 5:00, so I went to the Louisville Visitor’s Center (right next to our hotel!) grabbed a trail map and a brochure for bike rental and ran to the bike rental place. The lady gave me a (7-speed, ha ha) bike, a helmet (won’t ride without one) a map to get to a park, and I was off!

Right away on my ride I noticed a tiny little distressed bird laying in the middle of the trail. I was worried about him getting run over so I put him on a piece of styrofoam and moved him off the trail.

I placed him by a tree and that little bugger moved right back over to the middle of the trail and continued to squawk. He (and his body parts) were not around when I came back that way so I hope his parents found him.

I rode on trails then on to roads which mostly had bike lines, then I was on a pretty trail along a river:

I saw turtles sunbathing, lots of fish, other bikers and runners, and a cat and some dogs. I tried to get pictures of the turtles but they didn’t turn out. Sad face II.

The bike path lead to Cherokee Park, which has huge frickin’ hills in it. I saw LOTS of runners there. Go runners go! The park was beautiful:

An older bike rider (think 70s) actually showed me the way and we chatted for a bit while riding.

I rode back the same way and snapped a picture of the Louisville Slugger Field. Anyone know the significance? Andrew, do you still read my blog?

I rode around the riverfront a bit more when I got back. There are a lot of cool things along the riverfront – parks, memorials:

and water features…

This is a public fountain that people play and swim in! WTH?! I am TOTALLY going there tomorrow if it’s in the 90s again. FO SHO. No shame. I have my suit with me. I almost went in with my exercise clothes on today.

After I returned the bike I ran back to the hotel and had time to eat dinner with my coworker, talk to Steven on the phone and video chat and write this post (and make updates to the running club race website (!@#$^&$%*@&!!). Note: I still need to catch up on blogs, emails, and Facebook. Sigh. Maybe I didn’t get that much done after all?! At least I had fun! I would have kept the bike a lot longer if I didn’t have to eat dinner. I told my coworker I would be a half hour late for our dinner (well, meeting time to get dinner) as it was! Oops!

P.S. My black toenail started to come off at some point during this bike ride/run. Gross/exciting at the same time.

Comments (22)

By kilax, June 27, 2011 9:20 pm

I feel like I need to say something on my blog:

I am here!

I am just too busy lately doing stuff (it’s SUMMER!!!). I haven’t been around my computer at all to write blogposts or to read blogs. I’ll get to it. But first…

I am in Louisville again this week for work. And gone for the Fourth of July. Then Steven’s family is in town for five days. So, we’ll see. Be patient with me (please)!

Anyway, it’s so frickin’ hot (sometimes?) this summer, that I decided skirts are the only option (air flow) for work clothing. I went to JCPenney last week and picked up a few new ones for my trip.

Belted Pleated Skirt

Pleated Sateen Skirt

Poplin Print Skirt

Diamond Border Skirt

I spent $100 and got four skirts and two tops. Gotta love JCPenney. Where do you love to shop for cheap deals?

Here is the skirt I didn’t get. It was more of a pencil cut and a size too small for me. But I thought it was super cute.

If they would have had it in my sister’s size I totally would have purchased it. Sorry Christina, no luck.

Comments (15)

By kilax, June 8, 2011 2:20 pm

We’ve had to travel so much in the past year, and a few of the trips have been the sudden “we have to leave now” type, which means you sometimes forget to pack a thing or two.* So I’ve starting a working text document for my packing list. I’ve listed almost everything on it that I would ever want to bring for any type of trip. After each trip, I usually add an item or two to it. Then I print it out for the next trip, and cross off the things I want to bring, after I pack them.

Here is a pdf version if you give a crap.

I used the list to pack for a work trip to Louisville on Monday (I will be going home tonight, but be coming back quite a bit).

The Ohio River from the Indiana side, across from Louisville

I NEED to make an entirely new list for the Ragnar Madison to Chicago relay this Friday. Or at least start with that one and add a bunch of stuff that you bring on a trip where you are in a car for two days and not getting much sleep or really taking showers.

Ugh, I was hoping this post would be more coherent, but I am tired from traveling! And hope I can find the energy to do the relay in a few days (I am running 3 legs that total up to about 19 miles).

Do you have a master packing list or do you make one for each trip? Or do you just throw stuff in your bag and call it a day?

*Okay, it was always the same thing, over and over – the make-up remover face wipes I used at night.

Comments (44)

By kilax, February 22, 2011 11:00 am

Steven and I didn’t really approach our trip to New York City as a “sightseeing” trip. We had both already been there once (not together), and were really just going to see our friends, Gina and Steve! So instead of planning out things to do or see during our trip, we planned out things we wanted to eat. And actually, when I say “planned,” it makes it sound like we did a lot of work and research. In reality, we just came up with a wishlist of foods to try and Gina and Steve coordinated it all for us! On our list:

• NYC style pizza
• Babycakes vegan bakery
• Fries in a cup
• NYC style bagels
• Street cart falafel*
• Local restaurants

And as you’ll see below, a few things got added to list!

Friday

We had dinner at Mojave, a “Southwestern Mexican” restaurant really close to Gina and Steve’s home in Queens. I loved Gina and Steve’s neighborhood. They live on a quiet little street, but can walk a few blocks to a mainstreet area where there are shops and restaurants (and where they can get on the subway).

This is the only place I didn’t snap a picture of my actual food! I had awesome fajitas. I loved that the menu already had vegetarian and even vegan options called out! That is one thing I found about NYC – it was very easy to eat vegan while there.

And I should mention, it was in the high 50s/low 60s on Friday. Awesome!

Saturday

On Saturday, we drove in to Manhattan, which worked out perfectly, because it was really windy and a bit cold outside.

For lunch we went to the Peanut Butter & Co Sandwich Shop. It wasn’t on our list, but Gina mentioned it the day before and I wanted to check it out. It was our first experience (of many) of ordering and dining in a super tiny little shop, with lots of other people. A lot of the places we went to turned out to be this way – just little slivers of space with people packed in. I guess we hit up a lot of popular places!

The Peanut Butter & Co Sandwich Shop had a huge menu and we all ordered something different, as well as a sampler platter with all 8 kinds of their peanut butter! I got “The Elvis” – PB & bananas (but not grilled) and Steven got “The Club” – a double-decker sandwich which I included in the photo above.

After lunch we checked out Economy Candy, a huge candy store,

and Babycakes. Steven and I bought five things to try – a red velvet cupcake, a carrot cupcake, a cookie, a cookie sandwich and a doughnut. We didn’t dig in to our Babycakes sweets until we got back to Gina and Steve’s place after dinner Saturday night. We all thought that the sweets were really good, but too expensive. It was about $18 or so for the five things we bought! I know the ingredients are all natural, but wow. It was still a fun place to try though! And it’s always nice to walk in to a bakery and know that I choose anything from the menu.

For dinner, we ate at Buona Notte, a restaurant that Gina and Steve recommended, in Little Italy. Walking through Little Italy was fun. Nearly every Italian restaurant had someone outside luring people in to eat. Steve and I kind of ignored them, but Gina and Steven had some fun talking to them!

I ordered Penne all’ Arrabbiata – (whole wheat) penne sauteed with arugula and hot peppers in tomato suace. Nom nom nom. I ate it all!

Sunday

We started Sunday off with New York City style bagels from the Brookyln Bagel and Coffee Company near Gina and Steve’s home. Steven and I actually decided that the bagels were the best thing we tried throughout the entire trip. I can’t even begin to describe how delicious they were – just so chewy and dense and filling. Just what I like! Oh, and did I mention they were huge?

I thought it was fun to go in to a shop and see a zillion different kind of bagels spreads. I tried the tofu spread on my Everything bagel. Steven got a whole wheat bagel with butter and jelly.

After our bagels we took the subway in to Manhattan and hung out around Times Square,

then made our way to Famous Original Ray’s Pizza (811 Lexington Ave.), so Steven could have a slice! The criteria for the pizza was that it was huge and Steven had to fold it in his hand to eat it. Check, and check!

There are actually a ton of Ray’s pizza places in NYC. We’ve even seen a documentary on the Food Network about them. Of course, while in NYC, we couldn’t remember which one was the actual original.

After lunch, Steven, Steve and Gina split a Black & White cookie that Steven picked up at Zaro’s Bakery near Union Station. Another item that was not on our list, but luckily, we thought to pick one up since Steven loves them!

We went to the Guggenheim Museum (just to see the building, not the art) afterward, then strolled through Central Park. The weather turned out to be great – sunny and less windy than Saturday. I loved seeing all of the runners in Central Park! I will have to come back and run there someday… maybe I can get in to the 2012 NYC Marathon lottery! Ha.

After our stroll, Steven and Steve went to a cigar shop to smoke cigars, and Gina and I went to the mall on Columbus Circle. We thought we were making chili for dinner**, so we bought all of the ingredients at Whole Foods, went to Borders (where we saw Robin Williams) and then had tea at Argo Tea Cafe. Steven and Steve weren’t done with their cigars until close to 8:00. We got back to their place at 9:00 and decided it was too late to make chili, so we ordered local diner food, which was fun!

I got a stir fry type thing and Steven got the Mediterranean sandwich.

Monday

We made vegan pancakes for breakfast, then headed in to Manhattan for one of the last things on our wishlist – fries in a cup. Steven swears my sister had fries in a cup in NYC when she was there in August, and that is where he got the idea. My sister does not remember said fries, but luckily, Gina came up with something for us to try – Pommes Frites, a restaurant that only sells, you got it, fries in a cup (well, cone really, but let’s not get technical).

Originally, we planned on having our fries as an appetizer, but we all ordered one, with different sauces to try, and that ended up being lunch! It was a really fun experience. There are 26 different fry sauces to choose from, then you sit down (if you can find a seat) at these tables with holes in them, where you place your fries. Fun!

After lunch, we decided we wanted something sweet, and we stumbled across Viva Herbal Pizzeria (179 2nd Ave.) – a vegetarian and vegan pizza (and other items) shop! I had wished I wasn’t so full and could get a piece of pizza to try, but we just got a cookie and sort of cookie sandwich to share with Gina and Steve. I will have to check out that place more the next time I’m in NYC!

We all decided the vegan sweets from Viva Herbal were just as good as the ones at Babycakes – and a lot cheaper too!

We had to leave Manhattan after eating our sweets and head straight to the airport. Wah!

So, did this post make you hungry? Have you ever taken a “culinary” vacation like this? (Well, if I can call it “culinary.”)

This trip ended up being awesome. It felt low-key, even though we did a lot. We were never rushed or felt like we “had” to do something. We were kind of just going with the flow, having a great time chatting and telling jokes. Usually my vacations are not like that – they are usually “go go go!” but this was so nice. We stopped a lot, just to sit and chat, which I really enjoyed. I need to do that more often!

*We never got around to our falafel – we’ll have to save it for next time!
**Which literally fell through, we got home too late, and I dropped the bag and one of the glass jars inside broke (hence the “literally fell through”).

Comments (17)

By kilax, February 21, 2011 7:44 pm

Our short trip to NYC to visit our friends Gina and Steve was exactly what I needed.

In Central Park

Gina and Steve showed us an amazing time, hosting us in their home, and taking us all over Manhattan (and some of Queens!) to fulfill our culinary wish list (which I will post about tomorrow!). We had many wonderful conversations and told many jokes. It felt so good to spend time relaxing with friends, not thinking about work or any other silly stressful things.  I didn’t want to leave NYC and feel quit bummed that I don’t know when we will see them next! Steven and I get along really well with them, which is funny, considering we have only formed a relationship in emails and this is only the second time we’ve ever been together in person!

In the Guggenheim Museum

One more day off of work, then back to reality. Hopefully this awesome mood will last some time!

Gina and Steve’s cat, Manny!

What was the last awesome vacation you had?

Comments (28)

By kilax, February 20, 2011 8:15 pm

Guess who Gina and I said hello to (and he said “hey” back) at the Borders by Columbus Circle?

I saw his stand-up routine with Steven and my parents in September of 2008. Totally hilarious.

Have you ever run in to a celebrity?

I ran in to Tony Hawk in Chicago a few years ago, and saw one of the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy stars in NYC in 2005.

Comments (17)

By kilax, February 20, 2011 7:13 am

My next race is the Frosty Footrace (5K) on February 27th.

Day 484 | February 14, 2011: cross

Recumbent Bike Time: 45:00 | Distance: 7.36 | Set on “Manual,”  Resistance Level 5.0

Day 485 | February 15, 2011: 5 m run (400-800-1200-800-400)

I think I need to quit relying on exercise to help me de-stress. I’ve had a lot of angry workouts lately. At least I run faster when I am angry.

I did a ladder workout, or reverse ladder, or up-and-down the ladder, or whatever they are called (does anyone remember?) of 400-800-1200-800-400.

I did a 1-mile warm-up (@6.3mph/9:31mm), then five intervals with 2:00 minutes of recovery(@6.3mph/9:31mm) between, then a 1-mile cool-down (@6.3mph/9:31mm). The workout was tough, but more in a mental way of continuing to push it, than dealing with any aches.

Distance: 5.0 | Time: 45:02 | Incline: 1.0

Day 486 | February 16, 2011: strength + cross

I did Level 1 of The 30 Day Shred before I left for work in the morning. I used two 5-lb dumbbells for all the moves and holy cow – I was worn out!

During lunch I rode the bike in the gym.

Bike Time: 45:00 | Distance: 8.21 | Set on “Manual,” Resistance Level 5.0

Day 487 | February 17, 2011: 6.2 m run (+stretch) + strength

I met a few members of the running club at 5:30 am for a quick run before everyone went to work. I usually cannot make it to these early runs because I am already riding the train in to Chicago, but Thursday was my work-from-home day, so it all worked out! I ran 6.2 quick (for me) miles through a local neighborhood with about 5 other people (we were down to 3 at the end), then drove home and did 10 minutes of Yoga before taking a shower and starting the workday.

And I must mention – I wore a shirt and capris for this run. In February! Awesome!

Distance: 6.2 | Start Temp: 49° | End Temp: 44° | Time: 55:46 | Avg Pace: 8:59 | 1: 9:05 | 2: 8:56 | 3: 8:52 | 4: 9:08 | 5: 8:43 | 6: 9:12 | 7: 1:46

During my lunch break, I did Level 1 of The 30 Day Shred with Steven. I was kind of half-assing it, and Steven was saying all these funny jokes… so I am not sure how effective the workout was!

In the evening I attended the “No More Injuries” Clinic held by a Physical Therapist that is a member of our running club! I will have to share the notes when I get a chance, because they were quite interesting (different from many things I have heard about running – for example, that it does not matter what surface you run on, because your body usually compensates for it).

Day 488 | February 18, 2011: 10 m run (+stretch)

I had to get my long run in early in the morning Friday, before catching a flight. Another running club member joined me for the first 5 miles and it was so nice to have his company! And boy, we were running fast – I didn’t even realize it (it was dark out and I wasn’t paying attention to my splits), but all of our miles were under 9:00mm. After he left I slowed down a bit! I felt really good during the run – I hope I wasn’t running too fast (for me).

I did 10 minutes of yoga after my run was over.

Run stats: I wore my orchid Asics Cumulus 12s (the new ones!). I wasn’t sure what to wear, but ended up with capris, two long-sleeved tops and gloves, and that was perfect. I stopped in the middle of the run when my friend left.  I had a Vanilla Bean GU at mile 5 and drink a bit of water.

Distance: 10.0 | Start Temp: 36° | End Temp: 35° | Time: 1:29:39 | Avg Pace: 8:57 | 1: 8:57 | 2: 8:46 | 3: 8:36 | 4: 8:47 | 5: 8:47 | 6: 9:11 | 7: 9:20 | 8: 9:09 | 9: 8:58 | 10: 9:01

Day 489 | February 19, 2011: rest

Day 490 | February 20, 2011: 6.1 m run

The awesome run of the week award goes to Sunday’s run – in NYC! We’re staying with our friends in Queens, so I snuck out early in the morning for a run. I started in their residential neighborhood, then ran along the East River (I think?) and in to a park. It was a beautiful early morning run, and I could see Manhattan in the background for a lot of it!

And the interesting part about this run is that I had negative splits, but wasn’t even trying! I wonder if doing speedwork is helping my overall speed.

Distance: 6.1 | Start Temp: 22° | End Temp: 22° | Time: 55:55 | Avg Pace: 9:10 | 1: 9:45 | 2: 9:25 | 3: 9:20 | 4: 9:12 | 5: 8:51 | 6: 8:26 | 7: 0:53

Week Summary: 27.3 miles

I did the best I could this week for fitting everything in while traveling. Hopefully I can do more yoga next week!

I’ve been wearing my compression socks after long runs, speedwork and interval runs. I never really felt sore after these types of runs before, so it’s hard to tell if the socks are doing anything, but I am feeling pretty good. I am going to keep wearing them!

I am going to try to participate in Jill‘s (Finishing is Winning) Monday Brain Exchange. She asks one fun question (or series of questions) a week, on Monday (I will probably answer on Sundays). This week’s question is:

Do you make vacations out of your races when they are far from home?

I’ve actually never done a destination race. The closest thing to it will be running the half marathon in Champaign-Urbana this April. And it won’t be a vacation in the fact that I will take extra days off from work… but I will have a blast!

I actually do the reverse of this question – look for races when I am already planning on traveling. Whenever I go to Iowa, I see if there are any 5Ks happening and usually sign up for them.

Comments (46)

By kilax, January 21, 2011 3:11 pm

Do you have any travel planned for 2011? Where/when and why?

We love to travel. So much that we have an entire bookshelf dedicated to travel literature* and a large travel map where we put pins on the places we’ve been.

We haven’t been able to travel much outside of our normal routes lately (Cedar Falls, IA, Guttenberg, IA and Kansas City, MO) because of our limited budget, but I got enough money in my bonus this year to buy tickets to New York City! Yay! We are going in February to spend time with our friends Gina and Steve. I cannot wait to explore NYC with them.

And I would really love to do a destination marathon this year, but yeah. We’ll see!

*We haven’t been to all of the places I have books on… I just like to read about places I haven’t been to.

Comments (41)

By kilax, September 22, 2010 6:16 am

CSN asked me to do another review on my blog, and of course, I couldn’t say no. When choosing something to review I started by looking at their cheap bedroom furniture and king size bed sheets, because the bedroom is definitely one area of the house that we are still working on*.

Of course, I was just lusting after beds like this one and this one, and ended up ultimately deciding to review the T-fal Avanté Sandwich & Waffle Maker because:

1. I like waffles and cannot make them without a waffle maker
2. You can take out the plates and wash them in the dishwasher!
3. It makes waffles and sandwiches!
4. It can be stored vertically
5. My best buddy Erin already has it and thinks it’s great!

So, watch for a review!

But back to the topic of home furnishings – we still don’t have a “bed” and it’s something we would love to have. Of course, we learned right away that when you buy a home, you don’t automatically get to fully furnish it. Furniture. Is. Expensive! Here is our home furnishing time line so far:

• Fall 2004 – Steven moved in to house with all of his old college furniture
• Fall 2004 – bought fridge and stove**
• Spring 2005 – bought dining room table
• Summer 2005 – bought king size bed (woo hoo!) and moved double to guest bedroom
• Spring 2007 – I moved in (yay?), put my new double (and bed) in guest bedroom and got rid of old double
• Fall 2007 – (September) bought new office furniture and bookcases from Target and got rid of mis-matched college crap
• Fall 2007 – (November) bought new couch, loveseat and side table, put covers on old furniture and moved upstairs; bought brand new file cabinet***
• Fall 2007 – (December) bought sweet 50″ plasma, “sold” old TV to my sister

And that’s it! We’d still like a bed for our king size mattresses and maybe some nice dressers for our bedroom. And maybe an ottoman for the living room. Oh, and a new cabinet for the TV. And maybe some more artwork. Yeah. The list could go on and on.

What stage is YOUR home in? Fully furnished to your liking? In between like us? Still using mismatched hand-me-downs (no shame in that!)?

What’s your favorite piece in your home?

(I hope Nilsa replies. I have been in her home and it’s beautiful. She and her husband have great taste and I cannot wait to see their little grasshopper’s**** room fully decorated.)

My favorite piece in our home is actually a framed map that we put pins on to mark where we have traveled (I wrote about it a bit here). We actually got it right after we got back from Aruba in November of 2007 and it was so much fun to mark it out. Surprisingly, no one finds interest in it but us, and more so me.

*Ha ha. That sounds funny.
**The house came with a stove, but it was not stainless steel, so Steven got a new one and sold the other one (brand new) to my parents.
***I would like it to be noted that this thing weighed a lot and I pushed it up the stairs on a piece of cardboard while Steven directed.
****That’s the code name for their baby that’s on the way!