Off and Running

I have no idea why, but I've recently decided to try running.  Sure, I've dabbled in it in the past -- forced cross-country runs in high school, half-hearted attempts to get in shape for tennis, delusional thoughts of actually finishing a half-marathon....  You get the point.

But this time is different.  Why?  Because for the first time, I'm actually enjoying myself. 

It all started about a year ago when I agreed to do a half-marathon with a friend.  Injuries kept me from training, and we ended up doing a half-marathon relay instead.  At the end of my 8 miles, I was dead tired and wanted nothing more than to find a cold drink and a soft bed, not necessarily in that order.  But the weird thing was, as tired as I was, I realized I still had fun. 

Since my original plans to do the half-marathon were thwarted, I decided to give it another go.  The biggest run around here is at the end of February, but I realized that there's no way I would be able to train properly for a half-marathon in time.  So I signed up for a 10K instead.  I'm not kidding myself, there's no way I'm going to be able to run the entire 10K.  But I'm going to get out there and give it a shot. 

In the meantime, I completed my first 5K run today.  I did better than I thought I would.  My goal was to finish in 45 minutes, and I finished in just over 41 minutes!  I know that's not a great time for a lot of people, but it is for me.  Yes, I walked quite a bit, but we all start somewhere.  And that's exactly what this was, a start. 

Another Eventful Weekend

Yes, I've been neglecting my little blog again, but this time I have a good excuse!  A friend from college got married this weekend, and another friend came to town and stayed with me so she could also go to the wedding.  What that means is that I had a lot going on last week and this weekend.

The festivities started Thursday night when Mehendi night.  That's when you all get together for food, music, and getting henna put on your hands.  Here's what my hand ended up looking like:

Friday was the Catholic ceremony, followed by the Hindu ceremony on Saturday.  Did I mention that my friend's flight was delayed and she didn't get in until 1:00 am?  And that we stayed up until 3:00 am talking?  And that my puppy woke us up early the next morning?  Yeah well, all that happened.  But I still had a blast!

Cake Wrecks

I'm definitely not the most creative person, so I love when I come across creative blogs.  And if they feature cake, even better! 

Cake Wrecks is one of my favorite blogs of the moment.  Their tag line is "When Profession Cakes Go Horribly, Hilariously Wrong."  Basically people send in photos of cake they've ordered that bakeries have managed to mangle.  A classic example: Someone calls the bakery and makes the following request, "Please write 'Happy Birthday' and underneath that 'Jane' all in red."  However, what they get is a cake reading, "Happy Brithday & under neat that Jane all in read."

I think if I were to receive one of these cake wrecks, I would laugh.  But unfortunately there are plenty of wrecks wedding cakes too.  While I still laugh at those, I can imagine the bride and groom were not as understanding.

Earlier this week, they had a "lawyer" themed post -- it was like you were reading a commercial for a personal injury attorney.  Since I'm a soon-to-be lawyerly type, I thought it would be appropriate to mention it in my little blog.  If you're interested, click here to check it out.

Joys of Summer

Strangely enough, one of the things I remember most fondly about my high school tennis days are the funky tan lines.  I've been playing quite a bit of tennis lately in this wonderful 100+ degree Texas heat, most of it at ridiculous hours.  I usually try to time my games, practice, etc., when it's not as hot, like right before the sun goes down.  But the last couple of weeks I've played in two tournaments, so I had no say on what time I was actually on the court.  The tournament directors were nice enough to start a few of my matches at 2:00 pm, also known as way-too-hot-to-be-doing-anything-but-sitting-in-the-AC pm. 

When preparing for a match when the sun is at its absolute hottest, it's really important to put on plenty of sunblock.  I slathered on the SPF 50 (and reapplied), but I tan REALLY easily, so I still got darker.  Here's where the funky tan lines come in:

• Like everyone else, I have a nice sock-line.  Unlike most other people, I wear an ankle brace on one ankle, so the sock-line is higher on one leg than the other.  
• Sometimes I wear shirt with sleeves, sometimes without.  Now I have a mini-farmer's tan going.
• I wore a shorter pair of shorts on Saturday than Friday, so I have two different shorts tan lines on my legs.
• And the most interesting part, or at least the part that leave the most funky tan lines -- I tan through my shirts, just not as dark as on exposed skin.  

While the funky tan lines do bring back some memories, they just are very attractive.  I guess I didn't care all that much back then, but I seem to be a little more vain now.  Oh well.  At least school starts in a few days and I'll be back to wearing long pants and jackets and hiding all those funky lines.  On the up side, at least I don't burn!

Vacation Planning

I've been working hard the last few years, and I think it's time I treated myself to a real vacation.  I started saving up about a month ago, and my original plan was to take a nice long relaxing trip after taking the bar in February, but I don't think I can wait that long.  So to anyone out there who is reading this, any vacation destination recommendations? 

Here are some guidelines:

• It's going to be a long weekend only, so as much as I'd love to go somewhere like Europe or Australia, that's just not going to be possible at the moment.  Maybe February.
• It's probably going to be in September or October, so no snow-required destinations.
• I plan on going alone, so nowhere where I'm going to feel like crap for not having someone special to be there with....unless the plan is that I meet someone special there.  =)

I guess that's pretty much it.  Anywhere you absolutely loved that I should go?  Anywhere you absolutely hated that I should avoid at all costs?

Movie Tavern

A friend first told me about Movie Tavern about 4 - 5 years ago.  It sounded like a great way to watch a movie.  And in case you don't know what they are, Movie Taverns are movie theaters and taverns in one (duh!).  Basically you get to watch a movie while enjoying a meal.  Just have a seat, place your order with your waiter, and sit back and enjoy.  They even have a full-service bar. 

There was one in Houston, but it was so far from home that I never got around to going.  Now that I'm in Fort Worth, there are 4 within about 10 - 15 minutes.  I've been meaning to go for a while now, but one thing or another always comes up.  I was planning on going this past week, but I got busy with school.  And now I'm getting started with finals, so I definitely don't have time. 

Next week, my last final is on Thursday, and then I have a class to go to on Saturday.  What does that mean?  That Friday is completely open!  And I just promised myself that I would finally go. 

Now I just need to figure out what to watch.  I think I'll sleep in and then catch a mid-day movie.  Friday's schedule isn't up yet, but based on Thursday's schedule, it look like my options are: Despicable Me, Grown Ups, Knight and Day, Predators, The Last Airbender, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and Toy Story 3.  I'm not sure which I'll watch, but it won't be Predators or Twilight. 

If you've seen any of the above and enjoyed it, let me know!