Fresh!

Fresh back from a seven-day vacation with my extended family in Marquette, Michigan. Feels great to be back home, but I'm already missing my people and the beach. Big love and hugs to my awesome family!

"Sometimes Love Isn't Stronger Than Wine"

"I Will Meet You by the Windless Tree"

A Tale of Two Dogs

So let me tell you about how a tale of two dogs....as you may have read, I had a dog sitting gig last week.

I was responsible for two dogs while staying at my client's home, about five minutes from my own house. The gig lasted only for two nights beginning Thursday after work. I was done by about 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Mixed feeling pretty much sums up the experience. Going for a walk with them on Thursday night was decent enough, although one dog is a good walker, the other one would just stop and lay down mid walk, making forward momentum difficult to maintain. Playing ball with the dogs in the back yard was fun on Friday evening. We all had fun, but I don't know if all of it was enough to make me want to dog sit on the regular.

Here's the deal. I don't have my own dog or dogs because I'm gone, out and about and what not a lot and that fact alone would mean serious alone time for a dog or me cutting back on my out of the house activities. On Thursday night when I knew the dogs had been in the house all day, I felt like it wasn't really right to leave them again since it was my job to watch them. Same deal Friday night. It might be different once I got to know the dogs and what they could handle or if they were my own dogs and I knew what they were capable of. But this time, not so much. I felt a bit tied to the house.

Bottom line, I'm a single lady who likes to be out and about doing things, often at the spur of the moment. Being responsible for someone else's dogs while they're out and about doing things (granted this situation involves travel for work) seems a little off in my book.

I talked to my client while she was en route from her work trip and when she asked how things were going and if I'd be able to watch the dogs at the beginning of August, I told her what I had been thinking. She was understanding, which was cool. I may end up doing a couple short gigs to see if anything changes, but I probably won't be putting dog sitter on my resume as a permanent side gig.

I'm glad I've given it a try and am open to seeing if things change, since you never know how things are going to work. Some things work, some don't and some take a little bit to figure out.

Sprinkles of Random

A friend from work is getting married this weekend. Tons of people from work will be there. The vibe at work Friday afternoon has been something reminiscent of pre-prom. People are talking about what they're wearing (it's an outdoor evening wedding, so there's some figuring to be done, especially for the guys!) It's going to be fun.

*****

I started my dog sitting gig last night after work. I will give you a full report after the gig is up. Meanwhile though, can we talk about TV? I have not had cable or been around cable TV in years. I had the TV on last night and am completely disgusted by what's on TV these days. It a wasteland of trash. Yes, I realize it was probably a bunch of crap programming when I last watched TV on the regular, but I think after not watching it I'm way more sensitive to it. Like my TV lungs pinked back up. MTV has some show about girls who look for older men who will buy them things. The title involves something about a sugar daddy. My thoughts on this: 1. It's sick that there's a show about this. 2. It's sick that there are people who actually do this. That is all.

*****

I'm entertaining the idea of getting new glasses. I've had my same frames, which I LOVE and are so me, for about three years. Maybe it's been four. Man time really does fly, doesn't it?! I found my current frames in Marquette of all places. They're Jean LaFont (super-fancy) and since I'll be visiting Marquette again soon, I'll look at the same place to see what's new. There's also a new place in Grand Rapids called Sight that I want to check out. I've also been looking at a few online sites Warby Parker and Zenni.

*****

My post title reminds me of cupcakes. I believe there will be cupcakes at this wedding. I'm also way late in getting to try out a cupcake or two from Bartertown/Roc's Cakes. I've heard good things!

Running Dogs

The clock in my living room decides to slow down about every six months (I'm thinking a battery should last longer than that, but that's another story) and being that it's Sunday night, I'm wishing the 8:15 p.m. that it currently reads was true! The weekend went too quickly as is customary. If you're a regular, you saw what my Friday night consisted of. Here are a few tidbits from the rest of my weekend:

Running. Saturdays are supposed to be rest days now with long runs taking place on Sundays. I had some miles I had to catch up on since I did not run on Thursday night since my entire town was in chaos and I could not peel myself away from the police scanner, streaming news, Twitter and Facebook. It was probably safer that I did not run that night. So sad and tragic, I still can't believe it happened. Back to running, I did a quick three miles on Saturday morning and then met up with Running Buddy A for nine miles this morning at the the crack of 7:00 a.m. so we could beat the heat. Have I mentioned the heat? Brutal for the last few days.

More running. I got to talk running with two new people on Saturday. I love that I can say, I'm a runner and instantly have something to talk about with other runners! We're definitely a big club, us crazy runners. I'm in the market for new shoes as the miles are creeping up on my current pair - Brooks Adrenaline ASR 6 - my third pair of the same shoe. They discontinued the style, so I have to find a suitable replacement. I think I have my choice narrowed down (if you click the link you'll see it's sort of an obvious choice), but I was a bit of a sad panda when I realized my current ASR 6s would be my last. None to be had, even in Internet land.

Dogs. I met up with my new client and her dogs on Saturday. Did I tell you I'm a dog sitter? My first gig is this week and I'm so psyched about being able to spend some time with my new little Westie friends. Seems like it's going to be a great arrangement. I have wanted a dog since having to put the Wolf down, but have always felt too guilty about my schedule and a dog spending too much time alone and/or in a crate. This dog sitting gig is like rent-a-dog, but I'm the one getting paid! I hope it works out as well as I've made it out to in my mind!

More Dogs. Running Buddy A has a Beagle Mix named Mae and I met her, her daughter and the Beagle at the dog park in town earlier this evening. We were having a good time chatting and watching all the dogs run and play. Beagle Mix Mae is a runner (A's always telling me about her latest escape) so I was telling the story about how my mom's dog wriggled under the fence at the dog park once and went for a run. Just as we're talking about it, someone is calling out, "the beagle just got out!" The mere power of suggestion must have wafted through the air and to her ears. She wasn't going to be out done by my mom's dog and she wasn't. She gave us quite the time trying to catch her.

Somewhat of a dog. I watched The Time Traveler's Wife on DVD tonight. I tweeted this earlier, but, must re-iterate for the blog, as is always the case, the book was MUCH better than the movie. Had it not been for Eric Bana and his handsome good looks, I would have shut it down.

Dog tired. And now, since I've been up since 6:00 a.m. and have had a busy day, it's time to call an end to this weekend. Depending on when you're reading this, goodnight, good morning or good day!

Friday Night Photo Walk

After getting in a quick run, I took a little walk downtown last night and captured just a few images from all the sights and goings-on near the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) and Rosa Parks Circle. It was such a lovely summer night with a butoh dance performance on the steps of the GRAM, bubbles, beautiful sunlight and jazz wafting though the air.

What did your Friday night bring? Whatever you do today, enjoy it and make sure you look for the beauty all around you.

All Questions: the Mars edition

So this single lady has had a few questions regarding the fellas.....

Just going to throw these all out there so they're out of my head. If you should feel so inclined to play along (be you from Mars or Venus), go for it in the comments! More questions or answers are all accepted.

In no particular order:

*If, after three years you realized that your ex took something when he left that you thought you've had all along, would you let it go? Or find a way to get it back? You might really want the thing he took.

*Why would a gentleman NEVER mention the fact that he has a live-in girlfriend (not even casually like, "oh, yeah, my girlfriend helped me out with that" or "my girlfriend and I went to that..."), but then mention it to your friend whom he's met all of two times.

*Why would a gentleman when given a perfect opening to tell you he's in a band, not tell you he's in a band? Don't all gentlemen in bands want everyone to know they're in a band?

*What's with a gentleman (or really anyone for that matter) who doesn't return a friendly smile?

That's all I've got for now. Maybe I'll be able to sleep better tonight with all that out of my head and out in the universe.

Groovy. Fun. Fashion.

For anyone in fashion, this video is already old - it's for Prada spring/summer 2011, but for me it's timeless! I LOVE all the clothes. The stripes and the colors, oh my! And they chose wisely for the music - it's Mirando by Ratatat. Such a fun campaign. I need to be working in fashion. Or food! Ha!

Fun Money!

My good gal pal TwoAdults blogged yesterday about she'd do with an extra $1,000. Rules being that it had to be spent on fun stuff, no bill paying, or the like. Reading her post with glee, I heard the cash register in my head happily ringing up her "purchases" and decided it would be fun to do a similar post! So with "$1,000" in hand, let's get to it!

Monthly massage appointments booked through the end of December. I'm already going to one on the regular for relaxation and running-related muscle work, so it would be nice to know I'm paid up through the end of the year. $450

Remaining balance: $550

I had a horribly frustrating home improvement project experience over the weekend involving a drill, freshly painted walls and anchor screws that would not anchor. What should have been a very simple project had me snarling at the world. I'd hire someone to hang the mirror I was attempting to hang. I'm guessing any hand-andy person worth their salt would be able to do the job in an hour or so. Gonna guess the hourly rate of $100/hour.

Remaining balance: $450

I rarely buy cheese for my house anymore. As a vegetarian I was overly-dependent on it as a protein source, so when I do purchase cheese, it's a super treat or it's for a particular recipe. I'd use my next $100 to go buy about 20 lbs of cheese, call a few gal pals over (byob) and have an impromptu cheese party. I'm guesstimating my average price per pound would be in the $5-6 neighborhood. Maybe I wouldn't actually buy 20 lbs, because, gosh, that sounds like a LOT of cheese. I would buy enough to have a substantial cheese party and spend any extra on extra snackins.

Does that look like 20 lbs. of cheese to you?

Remaining balance: $350

I've been looking for a quality handbag for a while, and can never bring myself to drop serious coin on a bag, even though it's something I'd use every day. For this exercise, I'd try to find one for $200 or under. Okay, so here's what I just found, it's the right size, color and shape:

This Cole Haan from Zappos is actually on sale right now in my budget! Score!

Remaining Balance: $100

I liked TwoAdults' nod to a charity with her donation to Heifer International (a family favorite over here too!) So for my last $100, I'd make a donation to Kids Food Basket here in town that provides evening meals to school-age children who would otherwise go without dinner.

Remaining Balance: $0

What would you spend your $1,000 of fun money on?

Not that kind of Golf

Oh, honey, can I tell you about my week with the car?! First of all, I take meticulous care of my car - a 2002 Volkswagen Passat Wagon. 100,000 mile check up for a million dollars, sure, sign me up! Oil changed at the dealer on the regular - usually on the date rather than the mileage, since I don't drive a ton of miles in three months, but the oil does get gunky. I love my car, so I take care of it, so it takes care of me.

I drove to Detroit and back on Saturday with some friends to see Robyn! The show was actually in Royal Oak at the Royal Oak Music Theatre for you Michigan folks who know where that is. The car was a champ. We made several stops - Trader Joe's before the show, McDonald's for fries and cold beverages after the show and Portland for gas to get us the rest of the way home. Not a single problem. Like I said, it's a champ!

Robyn, end of show.

Sunday morning. I made a coffee date with a friend I haven't seen in awhile. Earlier in the morning worked for her, rather than later. I was dead tired, but I rallied and got ready. I was running a few minutes late already when I hopped in the car. Turned the key and nothing happened. Zero. Zip. Nada. I thought something battery-related, but it's unusual for not a single sound to emit from the engine. There I was with my VW stuck in the garage.

Monday morning. Tow company guy (I'll call him Tow Joe. Picture Chris Farley, because that's who he reminded me of.) arrives with this on the agenda: to give the car a jump and/or tow it to the dealer. The jump did nothing. So Tow Joe, the car and I are headed to the dealer. On the way, I heard a bit of gossip from Tow Joe about one of my neighbors. So very interesting. You never know who's going to be out there telling your stories, people, so behave!

Dealer said they probably couldn't get a look at it before Tuesday. At 8:00 a.m. they did not have a loaner car for me to drive. I spent most of Monday in a state of mild anxiety trying to figure out my work/life schedule sans auto. Lovely friends came through and were willing to help out. Then the dealer called, "It's the brain - the part of the computer that controls all the car's functions. It's shorting out, causing the car not to start. You need a replacement." The part was on order. It would be Wednesday before the part was expected to arrive. Mild heart attack, but I asked again about a loaner car, "Any chance you have a car for me now?" "Yes, as a matter of fact, we do!"

If you take anything from this blog post, here's your gold, ask for what you want. If you get told no, ask again at a later time. The situation may have changed and you may get a yes.

Here's the cutie 2011 VW Golf that I drove all week while my beloved Passat was getting a brain transplant.

2011 Volkswagen Golf

Also, when I picked up my car tonight after work - a whole week had gone by - neither of my regular VW guys helped me out - seemed one was gone for the night and the other was helping someone else. After paying, I was walking to my car and my regular guy walked over to make sure I was all set. He asked if I had any questions and thanked me for being patient this week as it took a bit longer than they had anticipated. Then he said something that went like this "I also want to thank you for always being so nice when you come in here. You spend a lot of money with us and you always smile and are nice. We get cussed out on the regular by people, so I just wanted to thank you for always being pleasant."

What a genuine moment!

Sure, it's not cool to spend big coin I wasn't planning to spend this week, but because of the way the guys at the dealer treat me (I know a thing or two about cars and I never feel like they're talking down to me because I'm a girl or like they're being dishonest about what the car needs.), the fact that they loaned me the Golf for the week, that the car is paid off so I don't have a car payment AND this repair bill and that I don't have to buy a new car, I can shrug it off and just say, "could be worse." It's all about perspective. I choose to see all the good. Fore! Good things are all around if you're looking out for them!

Rockin' Out

Shiner was one of my favorite bands circa 1997-98ish. I saw them live in NYC when I lived there. It was an amazing show in a small club. They, of course, have a giant sound and they blew me away. It had been a long time since I listened to them, but I got this email from my older brother today:

Subject line: Shiner.

Message: Listen to them. ;-)

I got home and started digging through my CDs. I had only one The Egg, which my brother gave me for Christmas, I think. I totally thought I owned Lula Divinia and Splay, as well. Apparently not or not anymore. Neither were anywhere to be found. You know what it's like when you HAVE to listen to something right. now? I buzzed over to Vertigo. He had Splay and is checking on Lula for me.

Such a good sound! You can bet some of that is going on my running mix. Hearing it makes me feel tough and super cool for even knowing who they are. It's the kind of music, and they're the kind of musicians who make me want to be in a band!

What are you listening to? What ever it is, turn it up and rock on!

This is Still My World

I've been a huge fan of Joseph Arthur for a long, long time. There was a day a long time ago someone I knew bought his CD Come to Where I'm From based solely on the cover art. Fortunately, he's as good an artist as he is a singer/songwriter. We listened to that CD on repeat for weeks and I've been a fan ever since, picking up his new music as he creates it. I've had the extreme pleasure of seeing him perform live - once here in Grand Rapids at Calvin College and another time as a member of the audience when he was the musical guest on Later with Carson Daly. His latest full-length solo CD The Graduation Ceremony dropped today and I've been listening to it all night. I'm hoping he'll come back to Grand Rapids (Detroit or Chicago would work too) in support of this new music. Digging on it big time!

Pink

2011 River Bank Run

To anyone who would listen, I've been going on and on all weekend about what an amazing experience this year's River Bank Run was. As you may know, this year was my third year running the 25K (15.5 miles, yo!) and it was by far my best race yet. I think that's why I've been so psyched about it!

The weather was drizzly and in the mid 50s when we started and it lightly sprinkled on us here and there throughout the race. Compared to a complete downpour (earlier that morning), or heat and humidity (like we had on Friday) or gusty wind or all of the above, we couldn't have had better weather. I was joking about why they call it River Bank Run before the race saying "you think it's just because you get to run along the Grand River, but it's actually because you become one with the river by getting rained on the whole time." Of the three years I've run, the weather on Saturday wasn't even a factor.

I was literally smiling along the course, singing along so some of my tunes and pointing out different things that were so cool about the race. At one point - somewhere between the 11 and 12 mile markers I turned to my running buddy A and said, "You know what's cool about running today? It's sort of like last week's run since it's part of the course that we run all the time, but we actually get a medal for running it today!" I love getting the finisher medals for completing a race like RBR and hadn't thought about it at all until that moment.

We saw some of our running buddies along the course, which is always cool! Motivator Man was out cheering runners along at different points in the course. We saw him after the race and I thanked him for being out there, that he always seemed to show up in just the right spots to give me some extra motivation. The crowd at RBR is fantastic and completely helps keep you going the full distance.

The run itself was so enjoyable. We were keeping pretty close to 10 minute miles up until the end when we got a little slower, but it was such a steady and solid pace that I never felt tired. I even had some extra energy to kick in for a solid finish. And finish I did! I came in at 2:41:30, which is right around where I predicted I'd be. I'm super happy about that! I'm also happy to report that I've gotten faster each time I've run RBR. Last year was 2:43:36 and my first year was 2:45:44! Can't wait to come in under 2:40 next year! Progress!! One of our friends shaved 19 minutes of his time from last year. Dare to dream!!

I love running so much. I hope everyone has something that they enjoy as much as I enjoy running. It's such a positive part of my life, I'm super grateful for every day that I can lace up my shoes and hit the road for a run. Race days are icing on the cake with friends, family and the whole running community there for the fun!

Another reason to love running a 25K is that you have totally earned the right to eat anything you want for the rest of the day (or weekend in my case!) I had to have my standard post-race pancakes and scrambled eggs from Real Food Cafe. I had a giant pretzel at the movies and ice cream later on on Saturday. It was all marvelous!

My Runner Profile

The Fifth Third River Bank Run is this weekend in Grand Rapids. It's the largest 25K in the country and I love that it's in my hometown! This week The Rapidian has featured diffrent runner profiles written by Roberta King. I love reading about other runners and what draws them to running. I also thought it would be fun to answer the questions myself and share with y'all!

What race are you running and why did you choose it?

I'm running the 25K. I enjoy distance running over shorter races like the 5 or 10K races. The 25K is an ample challenge, but not ridiculous regard to how much time you need to train each week, which is my perception of marathon training/running. Sometime I'll have to see for myself.

Are you a repeat racer, if so, how many and which ones?

This is my third River Bank 25K. My first was in 2009, second 2010. I plan to keep running them until I can't anymore!

Describe your training program.

I usually adapt the River Bank Run training schedule to fit my own schedule. They basically have you running almost every day. The first year, I followed it pretty closely, but once you know you can finish a 25K, you know what you have to do to be able to run a good race. I usually run three or four days during the week and one long run on the weekends.

What about running appeals to you?

I love the feeling of crossing a finish line, knowing that so much of my life (training, healthy eating, etc) is devoted to making that moment happen. It's my therapy. It's my social time, weekend runs with friends are great! It's my exercise. It makes me feel strong and reminds me that I can do anything I put my mind and energy into.

A runner since?

I ran track in middle and high school, but did not take it seriously. For me it was all about socializing. I started running seriously in 2008. I got into to running by way of a sprint triathlon my sister in law organizes in New Hampshire. My brother is a tri-guy and convinced me that I could do it. I quietly trained, headed to New Hampshire and completed my first and only triathlon to date. I love running and biking, but need to hone my swim before I attempt another one. It's much easier for me to train and complete distance races.

Running tunes?

I usually always run with my ipod unless it's not charged, which is a bummer. I'm such a music person and a good song can really help motivate you to keep moving when your body is telling you otherwise. Some favorites in this season's running mix: Stars 4Ever by Robyn, Charlotte by Book Shade, Meds and Feds by M.I.A., Teqkilla by M.I.A. and Barbara Streisand by Duck Sauce.

Pre-race ritual?

Drink extra water the days leading up to the race. Pasta dinner the night before with my running buddy, A and her family. Get a good night's sleep. Breakfast. Suit up and show up ready to rock it out!

All Questions.

I have some questions for y'all:

If you are a patron of the arts, say you have season tickets to the symphony or you have purchased some art that you love. Do you talk about it? Or do you just nerd out on your own over the particular art you love?

Do you have room for out-of-town guests to sleep comfortably at your house or apartment? How many can you sleep? I'm planning on coming over and need to know! mwahahaha!

Do you or your significant other do the yard upkeep at your house? Or do you share the yard work? Or do you hire it out?

What's your favorite thing about warmer weather?

Are you on Twitter? Have you ever introduced yourself to someone you follow (who may not follow you) when you've seen them at a social function?

Leave your answers in the comments. Then I'll answer in a later post!

This. Not That.

Saw this Delorean at Coachella...

Not that Delorean...

Photo via: The GarageBlog.com

Digging on the former.

monday night random

It's been awhile since I've done a "my brain on random post"...so here goes:

I had my first day on jury duty today. It didn't suck since a running buddy also got a jury summons and we got to chit chat while we waited for our numbers to get called. My number didn't get called until the very last group, which was for a voir dire panel that will reconvene on Wednesday morning. Or not. There's still a chance the case may settle before needing to seat a jury. I'm hoping we at least get to go through voir dire, since that's way interesting! I was on a jury once in 1997. I should write a post at some point about my experience with out giving away actual trial details! You know, the last thing I'd want would be for anyone related to the case to find me, since we put our defendant away for a while.

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I've got a case of sniffles that I'm calling allergies. No other discernible symptoms. I've been running still - since the rule is symptoms above the shoulders, run, below the neck, don't run! Oh, and since my 25k race is in three weeks. Can't stop running now over a snotty nose.

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I looked at dogs online yesterday. This is not something I should be doing. It has been established that I should not have a dog until I have a suitable partner in crime to share dog-tending duties with. I miss my wolf! He was a super badass that would have taken someone out if they messed with me, but was super well behaved for me, a sweetie and easy to take care of. Had it been possible I would have cloned him since he was the best pet ever! I WANT a dog, darn it! A cute little Welsh Terrier would be so much fun, no?

An oldie, but a goodie: me and the Wolf!

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And speaking of puppy dogs, have you heard that the Shibu Inu puppy cam is back? A new litter of puppies was born on April 14th and they are C-U-T-E! They were sleeping when I just clicked over to get the link to share with y'all, but still fun to watch! Maybe I should just keep watching them instead of looking for an actual dog for me to adopt?!

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Burned my wrist with the flat iron this morning. Never fun, and somehow getting one's hair just so becomes a little less important after suffering a run-in with a styling implement.

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I'm totally digging on mango these days. Stems from the trip to Costa Rica and having found a few good mangoes here since then. I totally want a mango tree and it doesn't even have to be here in my yard. Just knowing that there was a tree somewhere warm growing mangoes just for me would be so awesome. I could have them sent to me on the regular. I'd even share them with you. Do you want a mango?

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When I got back from Coachella, I hightailed it to my local music store to scoop up some new music. I'm still waiting for some of it to come in on order - maybe it will be in tomorrow. Surprisingly, I didn't pick up Come Around Sun Down, by the Kings of Leon when it first came out, so that came home with me last week. It's been on heavy rotation, along with Arcade Fire's most recent release, The Suburbs. With the right bands, there's just something about seeing a band live that makes the recordings come alive!

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I want to see this. And this. Oh, okay this one too!

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That is all. Good night y'all! Sweet dreams!

Arcade Fire @Coachella