i did a half marathon!!!

Overall: 79/94
Age group: 4/4
Gun time: 2:20:23
Chip time: 2:19:59
Pace per km: 6:40

Saturday = success.

I did it.

I packed up my whole apartment today. It took me from 9am to 4pm (minus about an hour and a half of errands), but it is DONE. Holy cow I have a lot of stuff. I don't actually move until Monday, but I don't plan on physically moving tomorrow after the HALF MARATHON. It's in capitals because that's how I'm saying it in my head all the time. I'm pumped and also nervous because I feel (obviously) underprepared. Blogger is telling me "underprepared" is not a word. Hopefully I don't die.

The day started off with a lovely juicy peach.
Mmmm summer in my hand :)

THAT is a 700 mL Venti iced Americano, with three packages of cane sugar in it.
TALK ABOUT PRODUCTIVE BABY.

Goodbye little stoop.

Goodbye living room.

Goodbye bedroom.

Goodbye kitchen.

Goodbye stripper pole.

Goodbye bathroom.

Now, to iTunes to make a killer playlist.. and then to BED.

@ 9am tmrw send me lotz of nrg vibes plz kthanks bi

Type A.

I've been spending an excessive amount of time over at Apartment Therapy, dreaming of ways to work the new space I'm moving into (in two months!). I stumbled across this link - appropriately titled, "Things Organized Neatly" - in their archives, and the OCD side of me was absolutely ecstatic.

chocolate and Shakespeare.

Tuesday I went for a run.

Stats
Time: 40 mins
Length: 6.1 km
Training plan: "taperrrr"
Weather: sunny
Feeling: relaxed. walking breaks were taken.

I'm over this training business. I've regressed the last 5 days or so, eating microwave food, chocolate, and pop (what?!). I literally had a hangover this morning from binging on spinach dip. It was almost as bad as a regular hangover. I'm filthy. Today I at least tried to balance it out with a green monster..

I went to Shakespeare by the Sea with a friend from work last night for her birthday. I've never been, and it was a blast! We brought chairs and a blanket, and good thing we did... it was chilly! Hello Autumn, how are you doing?

We saw, "Treasure Island".

Make sure you stay inside the rope.. the actors run around a lot!!

Awesome location.

It's a little bit of a walk into the park. The SbtS team have a wheelchair and a golf cart to take people into the park who otherwise wouldn't be able to make the walk. What a great idea!

I don't have any photos of the actual performance (not allowed), but it was awesome. It was a modified version of the traditional story, and had lots of modern day references.. apparently scurvy is trumped by "Bieber Fever". The actor that played the Squire was fantastic, a very "blonde", airheaded character. At one point, the Squire whipped out his "lucky cheese"(a fake chunk of parmesan). I could not stop laughing!!

The performance was about 2 hours long with a 15 min intermission, and the concession stand sold snacks, drinks, and rented blankets (another great idea!). The whole performance was by donation (suggested: $15). I would highly recommend it!

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In other news, this is what my apartment looks like:


Moving day is Monday, but the half-marathon is Sunday, and I'd like to be mostly packed by then.. it's a good thing I like organizing :)

mmm castles

Coco Rocha was recently married to James Conran. She posted a few videos on her personal blog created by Gilbert Le, and the cinematography is STUNNING.

I'm trying to find words to express how I feel after watching them, and I'm speechless. It's like every girl's dream come true.. designer gown, castle, fabulous hair and makeup, family and friends, handsome groom, fantastic decor, and minions to do your bidding... just beautiful!!

my very own Cuba.

I must say this weekend was glorious. It sort of tripped upon me, and I didn't really plan anything, but today I ended up at Crystal Crescent, which is my favorite place EVER, minus parking.

My drugs of choice.

Sweet parking job guys. How exactly is that black pickup going to get out?

Beautiful.

Just look at that sand.

Baby dune.

My view.

Very happy toes!

Windswept.

May as well be a spa.

A dude with a sweet farmer's tan walked by, and while checking out the white sand and clear water, excitedly exclaimed, "It's like f**king Cuba!!"

After three incredible hours, my tummy was grumbling so I packed it in and headed back to Hali, and decided tonight was time for another first I have been avoiding - eating out alone. I am always afraid of looking like a loser sitting at a table by myself, but I am a grown woman and confident enough now to get over that. Plus I thought I looked pretty good so I was hoping that would cancel out the loser part. Ha!

I was headed for this place, but unfortunately they were closed :(

So I settled for some Greek food.

"Spanakopita: phyllo pastry stuffed with spinach and
feta cheese; served with Greek salad, roasted potatoes and rice."

The spanakopita itself was not very good... the pastry was tough and a bit chewy, and I did not see much feta inside. The potatoes, rice and salad were delicious though! (Side note: I had tonic water because they did not have club soda, which is my restaurant staple. When I read the nutrition profile, I may as well have had soda! 34g of sugar?! Not impressed..)

Dessert: lemon meringue pie. Devil tonic water in the background.

The pie photographed well, but was not very good. The meringue was chewy like a marshmallow.. I have definitely had better!

Greek Village Verdict:

Food: 2/5
Service: 5/5 (My waitress was great!)

I would recommend it if you want cheap Greek food... but do not expect much. Unless you just order salad. It is hard to mess up romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and feta!

P.S. I watched Battlestar Galactica: Caprica tonight.. and .. I love Sci Fi, but this movie sucked!

GUYS.

I TOTALLY FED A CHIPMUNK FROM MY HAND!

I know right, like usually you only see that on Youtube.

Back story:

I headed out to my parent's place last night for a visit. I'm slowly moving things out from my apartment to their place, so that moving day won't be chaos and there will be less stuff to move.

My parents live in the house I grew up in, in a subdivision in a small town. It's close enough to the city to go shopping, but close enough to the country to smell when the farmer's fields are getting fertilized.. mmm. My middle school and high school are surrounded by farms. I can honestly say I would like something similar for my family in the future...

I digress. My point is, that even in a subdivision, my parents have a National Geographic thing going on. They've had deer and rabbits sneaking into their vegetable gardens and harvesting a little early without permission.. and they have a constant stream of hummingbirds fighting over the three feeders on their deck. Most recently, they have befriended a baby chipmunk that has taken refuge in their backyard. He is a bold little thing, and occasionally trots up the deck stairs to see what's going on. In an attempt to keep him off the deck (and further away from the house!) they've starting training him with peanuts... when Mom sees him running around the woodshed, she'll toss a peanut from the deck and he takes it and runs.

It's gotten to the point where SHE CAN FEED HIM FROM HER HAND. I stood there, dumbfounded, as she crouched on the paving stones by the woodshed and tapped a peanut on the ground. The little chipmunk came running. He sniffed around her hand for a second, and then plucked the peanut right out of her hand!!! I was shocked!! And then immediately asked if she had any more.

Please pardon my appearance. I'm unwashed and (yes Steve) I totally stole my brother's house coat. It was morning, alright.

blogger FAIL.

Stats
Time: 29:26
Length: 4.8 km
Training plan: I'm "tapering". haha
Weather: sunny and beautiful!
Feeling: WARM

Sigh. One more run down. It doesn't really feel real that I will be running 21 km in 9 days .... (!!).

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The other day I got to open a new bag of coffee!!!!


I bought it way back here, but I was a good little dutch girl and finished the coffee I already had before opening this one. Oh happy day!

Note to self: Clean coffee maker..
P.S. Isn't that a cute glass mug?! Thanks Paderno <3

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Today is, "Be Careful What You Post On The Internet" day here at Casa Rachael.

It is 100% because of this post.

ALLIE FOUND ME!!!! (read the comment)

I am under the impression I have about as many readers as I have fingers. Since I have all my fingers, that is ten. So NOWHERE in my brain did it register that other random people would be reading this.. or that by linking someone's blog or inserting their full name into one of my blog posts, it may give them the capability to turn around and find my blog. In my mind, I am a speck in the sea of webpages.

Allie, if you are reading this, you have lovely teeth.

deelish.

Banana soft serve. The best worst kept dessert secret of the food blogging world. Popular with raw foodists, vegans, veggies, and omnivores (hi! that's me!) alike.

The process is simple:

1. Peel and slice a ripe banana.
2. Freeze.
3. Pop frozen banana in food processor for ~5 mins.

Presto!

The first few minutes it's a good idea to pulse the food processor, because it will sound like the blade is going to break (SO MUCH NOISE!). It changes from large chunks to small chunks to MAGIC in the bowl, and once you stop the food processor and come up for air after you dive in, you will thank me.

I added some cocoa powder because I was craving chocolate. Brilliant decision, if I do say so myself. Sprinkled with coconut, it was delicious.. and I dodged a trip to the corner store for some decidedly more fattening Haagen Dazs. Score!