Thursday, May 31, 2012

What I'm reading: May

Lately, I've been reading 2 books at once: a non-fiction one and a fiction one. Here is what I read this month:

Then Again, by Diane Keaton. I must say, I'm a sucker for a celebrity auto/biography. This one was no disappointment. It was less of a "linear" story, and more of a series of vignettes. It was refreshingly honest and interesting. 

Home Safe, by Elizabeth Berg. I love the way that Berg writes. Her writing is so descriptive and enveloping, you feel completely wrapped up in the story. She writes about a mother and adult daughter coping with the death of the father of the family.  The mother must learn to stand on her own 2 feet now that her daughter is out of the house and her husband is no longer around, lessons that I think can apply to any age. A good read. 


Monday, May 28, 2012

Summertime

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Happy 3 day weekend! It is so nice to wake up on a Sunday and realize you have one more day of sleeping in left. Hope your extra time off was as good as mine was. I did nothing but eat, read, and refresh. Since this weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, I've decided to create a summer "to-do" list, a list of fun things that I'd like to see or do in the months to come. 

Ride on the Santa Monica Ferris Wheel (also on my 25x25 list)
Make these nectarine vodka chillers
Go to McConnell's Ice Cream (amazingly, I've never been)
Go to the Cleopatra exhibit at the California Science Center
Hit up the beach more
See the Walt Disney archives exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Library
Attend an eatseehear event

I must say that changes are a coming this summer (nope, not job changes - guess again) so we'll see how many of these I can check off. Here's hoping! 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Subway art


Mildly obsessed with Going Underground. Her subway signs are spot-on perfection, and I can totally see them hanging in my fancy future home. My only problem? Choosing which of my favorite cities will win wall space. LA? London? NYC?

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Race recap

Yesterday, my cousin and I ran the Revlon Run/Walk 5k. Last year we walked the race, this year we decided to try to run it. My cousin has been training for weeks (go girl!) and I've been trying to keep up with regular runs. We took the metro down bright and early (it dropped us off right across the street from the event - so convenient!) and walked around the expo. I have to say, the free swag was not quite as good as last year, but oh well, we still got some good stuff. We walked around the expo for a while, then lined up for the race. A lot of celebs were on hand to host the event (Matthew Morrison, AC Slater (Mario Lopez), Stacy Keibler, Halle Berry and Matt Bomer). The runners were supposed to start at 8:45 and the walkers were supposed to start at 9:00. There was no attempt to distance the 2 groups, and they just let everybody start at around 9:00. It took a few minutes to even get to the starting line, and even after that we had to dodge people for a while in order to be able to run. Trying to avoid walkers and stick together proved too difficult for us, so we split up and just went at our own pace. I felt good for most of this race - I kept a nice, easy pace and didn't feel too tired. I hit "the wall" when I saw the 3 mile marker - the last part felt so hard! But I finished and got my medal (from the cute volunteer firemen at the event). I used Map My Run to keep track of my time - it says that the route was actually 3.67 miles, which I ran in 40:23. Then my cousin and I sat and drank some water and had a snack before heading home. I think this is a super event, just not sure if I would run it again (maybe go back to walking it). It felt a little crowded to be dodging people all the time. But good for a fun run, rather than a seriously competitive one. I find that I like running in races - there's something so motivating about being in a huge group, all heading towards one goal. Which one next? 

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Yosemite


This video of Yosemite is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. If I ever needed motivation to hike Half Dome, this is it. 

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Kayaking

I love kayaking, and would love to get to do it more often. Here are some amazing spots I hope to get to go someday:

Outside a SF Giants game

In NYC

Under a glacier in Alaska

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