Happy freakin' Friday

Oh, it's been a long week. I'm so ready to head over to my cousin's for a girly night of movies and sangria. And then tomorrow we're seeing Hunger Games! I can't wait. I'll let you know how it goes. Any fun weekend plans?

P.S: The best article I've ever read. (Jen, read this, and love me for it)

What I'm reading: March

This month I read In Defense of Food. Pollan boils the message of this book down to a very simple phrase: "eat food. not too much. mostly plants." Throughout the book, Pollan traces the rise of "fake" food. Over the past few decades, Americans have moved away from whole food, and instead focused on nutrients and food science. Now we're at a point where "the more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become." 

This book was super interesting. I liked learning more about what goes into the food we eat today and how things have changed so quickly. Good read. 

Harder, better, faster, stronger

This weekend I ran in my first 5k! It was one of my goals this year to complete one, so now I can check that off my list. I was a little nervous about running, especially because I felt like I hadn't been super strict with my training. I had bumped up the amount I running I was doing each week, but had never actually ran 3.1 miles straight (I know). I was ready to accept the fact that I would just have to walk part of it. As I went up the huge hill to the starting line, I started to get more pumped up. Before I knew it, I was crossing the starting line. I turned up my special race playlist and just started to go...and didn't stop! Other than a quick water stop, I ran the whole thing. Which I'm pretty darn proud of. And I reached my goal time of 35:00 (came in at 34:21!). There is something about being in a huge crowd of people that really gets you moving! And the people cheering on the side didn't hurt - the best race sign: "run now, tequila later." I really liked doing this race - and I'm excited to do the Revlon run/walk in May! 

I'm back!

Ok, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. Well, maybe a little. But I'm back, and I'm ready for my NYC recap. (Apologies for the picture-heavy post.)

I landed Friday afternoon and after a quick stop at the hotel, we walked over to Times Square. We wandered in and out of the shops (including a 4 story Forever 21!), and walked to Rockefeller Center. 

We also walked past Parsons. Sadly, no sign of Tim Gunn.

Then we headed back to the hotel and watched a movie. The next day we hit the ground running. We walked up Fifth and headed to the #1 place I wanted to see: the New York Library! I kind of wanted to just stay there. 

Next, we headed to Rockefeller Center to go ice-skating! This has been on my life list for years. 

But we only stayed on the rink for around 45 minutes, cause it was too cold for this wimpy girl. Then we headed to the Top of the Rock. Where it was even colder. But beautiful!

We also saw St. Patrick's...

and the Empire State...

and made a stop in Tiffany's...

Next, we stopped in FAO Schwartz where I fulfilled another life dream. I played the piano from Big!

So much fun! Then we walked through Central Park to get through the Natural History Museum.

I met the dum dum head...he didn't speak to me, which was infinitely disappointing. 

We didn't spend a ton of time going through the museum cause we were both tired and hungry, so I'll need to make another trip sometime. After the museum, we walked back to Times Square and went to a brewery for dinner. Once we both got food and beer, we felt much better. After walking so much, we made it another early night. The next night, we took a train up to where my friend lives and then I left the next day. It was a whirlwind trip, but it was so much fun. I can't wait to go back!

Packing

So, originally I had planned on doing a post about my packing for NYC. But guess what? We are t-minus 36 hours till I need to be showered, dressed, packed and out the door....and I haven't packed a thing. Not one thing. Instead, I'm watching Despicable Me. Because, you know, priorities people. So, instead, let's talk about what I would put in my suitcase. Tomorrow. Let's start with the weather: it's going to be mostly in the 50s, although Saturday has a high of 45. A HIGH of 45. Now I know that for most of the country, that's a normal winter day. But in Southern California, we are weather wimps. Anything under 65 is our winter, and 45, during the day, is just not something we encounter very often. So while I actually like cold weather, and would love to imagine myself looking super cute like this on my trip:

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It's probably gonna go more like this:

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C'est la vie.

Sicky icky

So the cold that seems to be going around lately finally got me. I hate being sick. I always feel really guilty missing work (which I did yesterday for half a day). I'm starting to feel better, just in time for the weekend! My cousin and I are planning on a hike in Malibu (and maybe a post-hike beer?!) I'm also going to attempt to pack for my trip to NYC, which is next weekend! My cousin was in NY this time last year and her packing advice for me boils down to this:

More on how that goes later.