Happy 4th of July weekend!

Hi everyone, sorry I've been a disappearing act on here lately.  It's hard to get back into a routine after traveling and usually I post on here in the evenings, but with only having a 2 day week last week... well, things got discombobulated.  I had the time though.  I've just also been a bit at a loss for words, having a hard time putting thoughts together lately.  It was a really tough week with the funeral of my friend Kelly, and on Wednesday I received the news that a close friend's mother had passed away.  I just haven't really felt like writing but am forcing myself to now because I think I will feel better afterwards.

I had a really lazy long weekend for the 4th of July and I feel a bit like I wasted it doing nothing, but sometimes you need that and I am trying to not feel guilty for it.  One of the exciting parts of my weekend included running the "Firecracker 4" road race in Saratoga on the morning of the 4th.  It's a fun, festive race and I got choked up a number of times with all the patriotism that was at the run.  It was a HOT 4-mile run, with temperatures around 90.  The first 3 miles were relatively shaded and lots of water stations but the last mile there was NO shade, NO water, and it was UPHILL.  It was brutal.

I spent the rest of the day in Saratoga after the race, including a couple naps at different friends apartments!  I don't think my body ever cooled down after that hot run and I felt pretty terrible throughout the rest of the day.  I was actually a bit scared because despite drinking water and replenishing my body, I couldn't shake a headache or feeling of lightheadedness.  Despite that, I had a pretty nice day eating meals at Druther's, Cantina, and enjoying some patriotic fro yo at Plum Dandy.

The rest of the weekend I spent a lot of time in my air conditioned apartment because it was just so darn hot.  I felt guilty spending the whole weekend that way but I had been so lightheaded and felt so sick on Thursday that it really took me a while to shake it.  I did spend some time on Friday at my friend's pool and met friends out on Friday night for a friend's going away.

However, the highlight of the weekend was the BBQ I threw on Saturday night.  I had a great group of friends over for burgers, hot dogs, chips, vegetable kebabs, corn on the cob with a lime chili butter, edamame and black bean salad, and lots of cookies, ice cream, and beer.  And, one friend brought over a watermelon, feta, and mint salad, which was really delicious!  I apparently didn't take a single picture the whole night but there was lots of good food and shenanigans to be had.  The night included water balloon and water gun fights, some Apples to Apples playing, and lots of conversation and hanging on the porch.

Midway through any party or gathering, I start to turn in to "game mode" and love organizing and playing games.  Apples to Apples is usually my go to but lately I've been hearing a lot of great things about the game "Cards Against Humanity."  My friend Heidi and I have been talking about it because she is my usual game playing partner in crime.  Yesterday I went to 2 different stores looking to buy the game but then when I looked it up online I realized that you can't buy it in stores!  You can either order it online or make the game yourself.  This is definitely going to be on my to-do list before my next gathering!  Is there anything that you guys recommend?  What are your favorite party games?

I'm going to recap my trips soon, because I want to document them on here.  But for now, I am going to wrap this up.  Hope you had a great fourth of July and weekend.  Hugs and happiness to all.

Sad day.

Hi guys, I am officially back home and have so many wonderful things to fill you in on from my trip to Berlin, Munich and Prague.  I've started the entries and am still compiling everything from my week away and getting my life back in order here, but I will be posting about the trip soon!  Unfortunately I have some sad news to share first.

I mentioned at the end of May that my friend Kelly had been suddenly diagnosed with what turned out to be very aggressive cancer.  And tragically, on Friday, Kelly lost her battle with cancer and passed away.  I got the news while in Europe and I think I'm still in a bit of shock.  Arriving home late last night I wasn't able to attend the wake, but was at the funeral this morning with some co-workers and friends.  It was a sad but beautiful service honoring an incredibly happy, positive, caring, and loving woman.  It's hard to believe it's even real with how fast things happened and my thoughts are nonstop with Kelly's family at this time.

I wish I had something really positive and uplifting to end on, but honestly, I'm not sure what to say because sometimes, life just scares the hell out of me, guys.  And this is one of those times.  Just a few weeks ago we were talking about Weight Watchers and I was texting Kelly to get the details on some guys I thought were cute.  It all just happened so, so fast.

We texted a bit over the past few weeks while Kelly was in and out of the hospital.  However, what I can't get out of my mind is a message that she actually sent me over Twitter.  And although it makes me uncomfortable to say this, I guess it was the last tweet that Kelly sent out at all.  Kelly asked me to pray for her and run for her every day.

So tonight, that's what I did.  Despite jet lag, physical exhaustion, and being emotionally drained I went out and ran 3 miles for Kelly.  The first mile I ran I felt like I wanted to run away from the world.  Just run away from life and pain and sadness.  I felt like I was flying and I think it was the fastest mile I've ever run in my life.  My Garmin said it was at an 8:19 mile which is much faster than the 10ish minute miles I've been doing lately.

Thanks for the help today Kelly.  Thinking of you and your family. #runforKelly

Guten tag from Berlin... NYC catch up!

Hello from Berlin everyone!  For those of you who have been following the blog for a while, you know that this isn't my first time writing to you from Germany.  And it certainly isn't the first time I've eaten delicious meals from Germany.  I'm a very lucky girl in that sense.

I arrived here yesterday morning after an 8 hour flight from Newark.  Before I get into my time in Germany, I wanted to recap my night in NYC because it was awesome!  It started by visiting one of my best friends from college in the office where she works.  She is an incredibly talented industrial designer working for one of the most innovative companies I know and seeing her in  her office was totally cool.  Her company's set up is so drastically different from mine and it is an industrial designers dream world.  It was cool to see her in her element and gave me flashbacks to when I used to hang out with her in Studio back in college.  I've been an "I.D. groupie" for quite some time now :)

We stopped and had a quick dinner splitting an amazing avocado, mozzarella and tomato salad and some chips and guacamole (as Kate mentioned, "Avocado with a side of avocado.")  Although green-stuff-heavy, it was both delicious.

Dinner was followed by a long walk to Pier 40 where I was joining Kate's work team for a 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. double header soccer games.  It was really cool to play underneath the skyline of NYC and with the city lights around us and I had SO much fun playing with her team AND I scored my first goal ever since I started playing soccer again a few years ago.  I was so excited!!!

There was so much laughter, encouragement, and just a fun atmosphere with her team.  Everyone was just doing the best they could and it was great to run around and get sweaty.  The team, which originated as a group of people from her office, was a bit more diverse that night.  I guess a lot of people from the office bailed so the remaining people brought siblings, roommates, friends who were new to the city, and friends visiting the city (me!) to join the team.  It was the last game of the group had so much fun that they all decided to keep that team for the next season.  I wish I lived in the city so I could participate!

Afterwards we went to a local bar to get some post work drinks.  I joked that it was practice for my upcoming week in Germany :)  It was a great time in NYC with Kate and unfortunately far too short.

After brunch the next day, I headed to Newark to catch my flight to Germany.  It was a really fun night and I was glad I was able to spend it with Kate because I had missed her birthday celebration in the city earlier that month.  Love you Kate and happy belated!!

And now, I'm in Germany!  Which... I will recap to you in another post!  :)

Later Post: First day of summer

Note: This post was written on Friday afternoon, June 21st but this is the first time I've had internet and time to actually get it online.  Sorry for the delay!

Hey everyone, happy first day of summer!! I can’t even explain how happy this wonderful sunshine and warm weather makes me. I get sweaty just carrying the groceries from the car to my apartment in this weather, but I don’t even care. I will manage a little sweatiness for this sun any day.

So, the first day of summer in Upstate New York is definitely feeling a lot like summer. We have temps in the 80s and a bright beautiful blue sky with lots of sunshine. And I decided just yesterday to take the day off and use today to relax and do some errands before leaving on a business trip. I realized I had no meetings today and as of yesterday afternoon hadn't packed a thing so I really needed the day as well.

Last night I had my regular bi-weekly happy hour that I organize and we had a unique mix of people show up from interns to more senior people covering almost every branch/division. It was really fun and one of the perfect examples of why these happy hours I do are fun. I love seeing people mingle and meet new people that they normally wouldn't talk to! The weather was beautiful and I chose a bar with a great outdoor area. We went to the Centre Street Pub in Schenectady, which is fairly new, but a great addition to the Schenectady bar scene. They even have a place to play corn hole (or “bean bag toss” to some) in their back patio. It was nice to be outside and catch up with friends outside of work, and in the outdoors!

I did the boot camp class over lunch time at work on Thursday and it was so nice out that I simply couldn't wait to get back outside. I’m really loving that class and even though I've only attended 3 so far, I’m loving how I feel afterwards and think it’s making a difference. I’m finally starting to notice a bit of a difference with my body since I’ve changed my exercise routine a bit, did the Advocare cleanse, and have just been counting Weight Watchers points. I think I am down about 5 lbs and feeling confident. Today, on my day off, I stopped at Marshall’s to return a couple items, and ended up going on a little bit of a shopping spree. It was one of those days though that just everything seems to work out and look cute! Sometimes when I go shopping I enter the dressing room with 15 items and leave with a tank top or 1 dinky thing that I actually like how it looks. Today, everything was feeling good! That’s how I know that my extra diligence to exercise and eating right is paying off.

I will admit that I am a tiny bit nervous about my work trip and don’t want to take any steps backwards with the progress I am making, so I am going to try really hard to be as good as possible. I also packed lots of exercise clothes and my running gear to hopefully get some miles in!

Right now I am on the train to NYC where I will spend the night with one of my best friends whom I haven’t seen in a while, and then depart from the airport tomorrow afternoon for my work trip.

The ride from Albany to NYC on the train is pretty nice!

It should be a fun night in New York and very different from other NYC trips I've had. I’m going to be playing with my friend on her work soccer team tonight – they have a double header with games at 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Yikes! I don’t think I've ever exercised so late in the evening, but I’m excited to join her team and get to know her work friends while doing something active. Hopefully they don’t laugh at my soccer skills…

Hope you are all enjoying your first day of summer and enjoying lots of delicious summery foods. I had to eat up all the leftover fruit and food in my kitchen today so it was a random day of eats for me but this apple/banana with peanut butter and my train ride snack of chopped fruit with lemon juice has totally been hitting the spot! I also made a fresh back of chili lime almonds today to take with me on my trip as a snack throughout the time I am away. I’ll try to check in as much as possible!

Binge race registration & a happy day!

Hey everyone, hope you had a happy Wednesday!  I certainly had an interesting day.

Remember how I locked my keys in my car yesterday so I had to get a ride home from work and to work today?  Well, when we got in to work I said to Dave, "Okay, so my car is over by the gym so you can just drop me off by-- OH. MY. GOD."  I honestly couldn't believe what an idiot I'd been.  Yeah, um, I had forgotten the spare keys at home.  UGH.  Seriously, what is wrong with me this week?  I also forgot my cell phone at home on Monday, which I never do.

Luckily, I have really awesome friends, and my friend Melissa agreed to drive me back and forth to Albany over lunch.  I didn't even have to introduce her to a significant other (because she is getting married in July... yay!)  I'm very lucky to have such wonderful friends who helped me out with minimal teasing.  Even though I don't mind it.  You gotta laugh at yourself people.  If you can't laugh at yourself, you aren't going to get far.  At least if you're me, that is :)

The rest of today was really good... the sun was shining non-stop, which we haven't seen for quite a while here in Upstate New York!  It was great to spend time with friends driving around (even though it was due to my forgetfulness) and post work I got in 3 miles outside.  I went for a run with Dani and another friends, which was really nice.  It was one of those days that I felt like I could run forever.  I've never been someone who runs with other people and I have to say, I am really enjoying it!

Following, Dani and I went to the driving range!  We decided that to make life a little more interesting we are going to start spending our Wednesdays trying new things.  The driving range was first up on our list.  The weather was gorgeous out still so it was a perfect way to finish off a beautiful day.  Even though we really didn't know what we were doing all that much...

I came home happy and smiling and made a delicious but simple salad for dinner.  Greens with sweet italian chicken sausage and chili lime almonds.  I actually went back and made myself seconds because I still had the Weight Watchers points left, I was feeling hungry still, and heck, I had worked out.  Plus, when I am feeding myself good, healthy foods, I don't feel bad about eating it at all!  The chicken sausage is all natural and the almonds are the ones I roasted myself and are so delicious.  When KO came to visit a few weeks back she at one point said, "The almonds are the best thing about this weekend." Which, I gave her a lot of crap for, because, really?  The best part of your weekend visiting your best friend is the almonds?  Gee, thanks, haha.  But her point was just that the almonds were really, really good.

With some tea and dark chocolate to finish off the night.  It's been a pretty great day for eating, for friends, for enjoying the outdoors, and for being happy with where I am in life.  I hope you are feeling as positive as I am right now.  Oh, AND, I didn't even mention... I binge registered for races today.  I am now officially signed up for a bunch of stuff in the coming months. It's a sure fire way to kick myself out of any sort of funk I am in.  Two sprint triathlons and another half marathon -- here I come!!!!

I locked my keys in my car today.

Today during lunch I went to the boot camp class again that I had attended on Thursday in the rain (it is every Tuesday and Thursday.) After a great workout, I went back out to my car and popped the trunk to put my gym bag in it.  As soon as I slammed the trunk shut, I realized that my keys were in my gym bag.  And I hadn't unlocked the car doors.  UGH.  Oh, and addition to my keys being locked in my car, as was my wallet, my apartment keys, and my ID badge for work are all locked in my car.

Anyways, luckily, my friend Dave said he would drive me home after work and then drive me in to work tomorrow morning. So, just minor adjustments had to be made to survive the night without my car or any of the things in it. I had plans to meet a friend for dinner and I did have to pay with a roll of quarters I had at home, but that’s okay. It’s still money, right?

And, I realized one pretty cool thing out of this. As some background information, I introduced my friends Jenna and Dave who have been dating for a while now. Anyways, I just now realized I have the best argument whenever I need a favor.  A quick snapshot of how I got Dave to rescue me from my locked keys in my car.

Go me.

Anyways, speaking of boot camp and me doing stupid things.  Last week when I did the class for the first time in the rain on Thursday, my clothes and sneakers were pretty gross and wet after class.  However, I lad to leave my gym bag at work because I left right from work to go to New York City on Thursday and then came back just briefly before leaving for the weekend.  Oh, and not to mention, I forgot about it.

So when I got in to work on Monday and opened up my little closet thing at my desk.  Oh man, did my gym bad not smell good.  Soaking wet clothes and sneakers crumpled up in a ball stored away for 3 days... ugh.  I didn't know how I was going to get it out of my cubicle and down to my car without stinking up the whole office.  And what would happen if I got stuck with someone in the elevator?  That would be terrible, for them.  I was really nervous about it but I finally just snuck the bag out to my car.  And it was nice and sunny yesterday so when I got to my car I decided to leave my sneakers on top of my car to dry (and smell) out in the sun.

Well, later in the day we had one of those sudden torrential down pours.  So, fail for me.

Looks like this week is going well :)

Father's Day weekend recap and eating embarrassment

Hey everyone!  I hope that you had a good Father's Day weekend and enjoyed the sun that was out for a bit.  I certainly did and could have used a bit more, to be honest!  I headed out on Saturday morning to my dad's house in Massachusetts where I met up with him, his wife, and my little twin brothers for a day on the water.  It was seriously so great to be out on the water... I don't have enough of that in my life here in Albany.  It was made even greater to be there with some super cutie pies.

I'm fully obsessed with these little munchkins and love interacting with them, seeing them learn, and grow.   As I'm a big "little kid" myself, I have lots of fun things I like to share and teach them.  I'm lucky enough that we snagged this little video from the weekend.  Watching it just makes me smile!


One of the cutest things is seeing them interact with one another.  Their conversations, their friendship, their rivalries.  They are adorable and at such a fun age.  They love taking pictures right now.  So I ended up with a lot of these on my camera at the end of the weekend...

After going out on the boat we went home where I stayed the night at my Dad's.  Little boys in PJs are just as cute as little boys on boats.  Use these photos of Tristan as an example (Nicholas passed out for the night early.)

The morning consisted of some snuggles with the boys, Father's Day presents, and a 3-mile run.  I'm really glad that I had the motivation to get up and run because it made me feel a little better about some of my decisions later in the day.  Oh, and before I left, there were obviously some more pictures.  I let them each take turns with my camera.  I'm sorry but they are just too cute not to share :)

Nicholas's picture of Tristan and I

Tristan's picture of Nicholas and I.

I headed out to my Mom's parents house for a quick visit with some members of my family there.  We used to have tons of big cookouts and pool parties at my grandparents all throughout the summer and the plan was to have a throwback party for Father's Day but the weather didn't cooperate.  We hung out by the pool but the weather wasn't really warm enough to use the pool -- except for the really, really brave.

Nonetheless, it's always a good time to hang out with family and celebrate the fathers in my family!

I came back to Albany on Sunday night tired and with a lot going on in my head.  I tried to write a blog entry last night but wasn't exactly sure how to express what I was feeling.  I'm still not entirely sure, but figured I'd just keep it brief.

So, I didn't do the best with eating well this weekend.  I planned to.  I had every intention of sticking with the plan of the cleanse I was 1/2 way through.  I drank a black coffee on my drive -- first one in my life -- to avoid sugar and milk.

But for some reason I felt the need to overcompensate when I was with other people.  My family all reads the blog and let me know that they'd read how I was trying to be healthy lately, yet I pretended I wasn't.  "What? No, it's totally fine.  It doesn't matter.  I can eat whatever."

And then once I broke the seal, I just indulged a lot.  Double ice cream.  Lots of frosting from cake.  More servings then necessary of meals.  Just a lot of nonsense that wasn't needed.  I knew what I was doing and made the decisions, so I've decided to not be mad at myself.  However, I wanted to figure out why I felt that way and why I made those decisions.

I think I was feeling embarrassed.  I've gotten used to sitting here alone in my apartment spilling my thoughts on to the blog, it's sometimes weird when people mention the really personal things that I write.  I've been trying to connect more with the bloggers I don't know that read this and forgot that I still have to see some people in real life :)

Anyways, I'm doing my best to have a healthy attitude about things.  I don't know if that cleanse thing was right for me.  I broke all the rules anyways.  I'm just going to keep on, keeping on!

Today I caught up on laundry, grocery shopping and cooking.  I tried to make a new recipes of flavored roasted almonds and it came out gross and had to be scrapped.  Sad face.

Otherwise, a pretty uneventful Monday.  Hope you are all having a great start to your week and a happy, happy belated Father's Day to all the Dad's, Soon-To-Be-Dad's, and Dad-like-figures out there!  XOXO.