Girls' weekend in The Cleve

One of the downfalls about being pregs is that my traveling is starting to become limited. :( One of the benefits is that my out-of-town girlfriends are coming to visit me to see the belly firsthand. 

Jen, my favorite Southern belle from Charlotte, flew into Cleveland this past weekend, and we had a blast. But, she refused to acknowledge any of my prego sleepiness and kept me out WAAAAY later than my usual bedtime (you should be very impressed that I was out until 1 a.m. Saturday night)...which is why I look oh so tired in most photos from the weekend.

Usually I drive down to Charlotte once or twice a year to visit Jen and get my piggies out of hibernation and into flip flops. Although Jen grew up Ohio (we met at Kent State), this was her first visit staying with me.

I picked Jen up bright and early Friday morning and we headed straight to breakfast in Rocky River followed by our spa day at the Brown Aveda Institute (facials and blow outs). Then we met up with a mutual friend at Dante for a delightful dinner, grabbed drinks at Lolita and then crashed our friend's friend's 30th bday party at Reddstone in Battery Park. (I was not allowed to have a microphone during our Don't Stop Believin' karaoke performance so I rocked the blow-up guitar.)

So nice that hail the size of ice cubes decided to make an appearance during Jen's visit. Actually, with the exception of Friday afternoon, the weather blew. I guess it was payback for the last time I visited Jen in Charlotte during her birthday party monsoon.

Saturday morning, we went to Tommy's on Coventry for breakfast and to window shop the cute boutiques (Brigade, Blush, Next) since they weren't open yet. Afterward, we did some nursery shopping and then piled on more carbs at Melt (or "The Melt" as Jen kept calling it). Mmmm!

We hit Beachwood Place for some mom's day gifts, stopped home for a quick refresh and to grab Phil and then continued our gorging at Lago followed by another meet-up with a friend at 806. (We wanted to recreate my 30th birthday celebrating that Jen missed out on.)

So, dearest Jen got tastes (literally...did you see how much we ate out?) of all corners of The Cleve. Next up will be a visit from Sarah and one of her little nuggets in June. Can't wait!

Instant Southern party: just add water

A little rain never hurt anyone. Good thing since Phil and I came a long way to Charlotte for a quick weekend to celebrate Jen's and Matt's 30th birthdays at an outdoor party.

In all the years I have visited Jen in Charlotte (seven?), it has never, ever rained. Actually, it's always been perfect weather. Yesterday was an exception, but a hardy tent in Jen's parents' backyard kept us, her other party guests and the band nice and dry.

Jen's parents live a street away from the picturesque Lake Norman, which has an impressive 520 miles of shoreline (Phil and I learned this factoid last night from a buzzed Jen's dad...).

The party was fantastic! The wine tasting was fun, and the two-man band, Below the Belt, catered to bossy Jen's every musical need...at one point giving her the mike for a "Don't Stop Believin" duet. And, let's face it...no Charlotte night out is complete without Jen stealing a tambourine and tearing up the dance floor...er grass.

We capped off the night with a late-night visit to Waffle House (my first!). I devoured a chocolate-chip waffle, hashbrowns (smothered, covered, diced and peppered) and bottomless sweet tea.

I'm ready for breakfast #2 today. Oh, it's gonna be a loooooong drive home.

Flip flops & ice cream cake start us off right

There are few things that make me happier than flip flops and 70+ degrees...and a girls' weekend...and shopping...and a client hit in Every Day with Rachael Ray today. Woo hoo! I try to get to Charlotte to visit my college friend Jen a couple times a year. Last time I was here was for my bachelorette weekend a year ago, so I'm overdue. Usually I visit right before Fall and just before Spring to prolong warm weather for as long as I can have it. This is the first time I've flown in, though (hooray for business trips!). I'm used to easing in to the South via a long solo drive down 77 to good tunes. Can't beat a 1.5 hour flight after work though.

Jen and I are buds from our time at Kent State. We were paired up on a team of seven for the ridiculously intensive PR Case Study class and bonded over pints of ice cream during late nights in my dorm room (nerds) and cruises around campus in Jen's VW Cabrio convertible to DMB, Tonic, Pete Yorn and the like. I earned the "affectionate" nickname Stalin from my teammates that year (hey, we won the competition), and Jen and I have remained close friends. I've stayed in every place she's lived in Charlotte (five?) since she relocated here in 2001, and we were each in the other's wedding.

Jen was an intern at D&E when we got to know each other and became friends with my now co-worker Lisa. When Jen and I started planning this visit, I roped Lisa into coming along too, which prompted the three of us to brainstorm on how we could all possibly work together professionally since Jen works in marketing at the Lowe's corporate office. Thus, girls' weekend morphed into the Mullet Trip.

Tomorrow's our meeting at Lowe's and dinner out. Saturday is our big night out with a bunch of girls, some of whom I've come to know from my visits and some I haven't met yet. Lisa's cousin and some friends from my high school who have relocated here also will be meeting us out, so it will be quite the gaggle of girls out on the town.

Downtown, E. 4th Street & Ohio City

Striping it up at The Greenhouse Tavern rooftop bar.

On Friday and Saturday, Jen practically became mayor of my parking garage since we jetted back and forth to downtown each day. On Friday, we started at the Downtown Farmers' Market where we filled up on food truck eats and bought out Ohio City Pasta. 

Dylan loved his pulled pork enchilada, but he ended up with mud butt the next morning. :(

From Public Square, we walked to the Rock Hall to see the awesome Women Who Rock exhibit. Loved our visit, but we almost missed Gaga's meat dress since its display was obscurely positioned in the exhibit (it's on the 6th floor in the display case on the other side of Rihanna's outfit).

We found the PERFECT souvenir for the Pickle: a Rock Hall maraca. Please note his Rock Hall attendance bracelet.

After the Rock Hall, we went home for Dylan's nap and got ready for our girls' night out. Since Jen interned with the agency I work for, we met up with Lisa, one of my co-workers, at The Greenhouse Tavern. We gorged on dinner (the pot de creme is AMAZEBALLS) and headed up to the rooftop for fresh air and great views of E. 4th Street. 

Love to see this place busy!

We ran into other peeps we knew, including another co-worker, Julia, and Alexa.

Chatting with Julia, we realized all four of us were dressed in stripes and Michael Kors watches.

On Saturday, we headed to the West Side Market to pick up veggies, more pasta (I know) and cottage cheese pirogi (Phil's fave). There was a fun band playing at the Ohio City Open Market, so we stopped by and then visited Room Service and bought hilarious inappropriate Barbie greeting cards. 

Since Jen always shows me awesome Charlotte shops, I really wanted her to see The Dredger's Union, so we went back to E. 4th. 

For dinner, we cooked up beer can chicken, all our amazing Ohio City Pasta (rosemary and roasted red pepper pasta tossed with pesto and roasted red pepper sauce), and made a salad with veggies from our garden and the Market. Mmm!

Jen and I went to see Friends With Benefits (JT's character's name was Dylan!) when the Pickle went to bed. Loved it! Since I had only a few hours of sleep the night before, I passed out when we got home. 

Please see this amazing onesie Jen bought Dylan from wrybaby.com!

A fantastic meeting and Jazzercise car dancing

Our visit to Lowe's today was fantastic, and our hope is to return in a few weeks to make a presentation and continue our discussions. After a late lunch with Jen, we had a two-hour meeting at Lowe's in Mooresville. The campus is already impressive, but is rapidly expanding to accommodate 4,000 more employees. Lots of NASCAR paraphernalia here and there, which we knew would make our co-worker Kevin drool. Sorry, guy, but we didn't score any souvenirs for you. However, we snapped a precious photo of the three of us after our meeting. Jen's mom, Liz, also works at Lowe's (adorable), and we thought it would be hilarious for her to take our pic, however, she was in a meeting, so we conned a stray employee to take it.

Dropped off the rental car...c'mon, it would have been even more ridiculous if we drove in with Jen to our meeting since we are already staying with her...stopped home to change, and then headed to South Park for some shopping and dinner. I squealed out loud earlier this week when Jen texted me to say my favorite Charlotte boutique, Luna, is hosting a 20 percent off sale today (yessssssss). I scored a yellow dress with pockets AND a bubble hem...two of my favorite dress features for the moment. Phil will not be pleased since it a) was not free, although 20 percent off and b) is pastel. I am Queen of Pastels and Phil is Mr. Primary Colors (I lovingly refer to him as Roy G. Biv). At least we both like black.

Ate at Upstream, a yummy seafood/sushi joint, and enjoyed a poached pear salad with mixed greens, dried cherries, pears (of course), gorgonzola cheese and a delicious whipped pear dressing. Then we split a series of appetizers like dim sum, a uniquely prepared calamari dish and crab cakes. OK, so we ate a lot. Walked across the street to the Dean & DeLuca wine bar and shared a bottle of Moscato on the patio. Gorgeous weather and good company, although we were more than a little obnoxious with our storytelling around the table.

Jammed in the car on the way home (shorty got low, low, low, low...), and any time a song came on that's part of Lisa's Jazzercise repertoire, she performed for us. If JT comes on tomorrow night, we're all in trouble, but you can count on me documenting her routine on the dance floor for YouTube.

Girls' night out followed by burgers and naps

Saturday oozed girliness with shopping, a mani/pedi (sorry, Amanda!) and a girls' night out with a smattering of new and old Charlotte friends, family (Lisa's cousin) and one of my high school girlfriends. One of the new girls we met at dinner is a Funky Fit workout aficionado, and we came this close to a cardio class dance off between Lisa and her.

Jen insisted that the three of us wear falsies (lashes, not boobs), but her aunt has always put them on for us, so getting them to stay was interesting (not intriguing...inside joke). Lisa, bless her heart, glued one of my eyelids together when she was applying mine. FYI, on this trip we learned that "bless her heart" is a popular, misleading Southern intro to an insult. My eyelids were a hot mess for a moment, but easily fixed. To Lisa's credit, neither she or Jen trusted me to put their lashes on since I can barely apply my own eye shadow.

Jen hosted a wine and cheese reception at her place before we all shuttled off downtown to M5, a restaurant that reminded us a lot of Fahrenheit in Tremont with a Mediterranean/fusion menu. Last night marked day two of pear salad (this time with poached pears) and moscato. Dinner was to die for. Zone and I swapped portions of our meals since we both were torn between two dishes. She scored with a short rib version of beef stroganoff with porcino mushrooms (P.S. Phil is Husband of the Year and surprised me with short ribs and halushki when I got home tonight). My aromatic rock shrimp and butternut squash risotto sent me to heaven. I have to mention that I'm becoming a big fan of bread dipping dishes designed like mini paint trays (Table 45 at the InterContinental has these too). Got to get me some soon.

M5 had a genius dessert menu that featured dessert tapas, three for $11. It's a crime that we didn't sample any. Had I not completely stuffed myself, I would have opted for the orange sugar shortbread, chocolate cake and pomegranate-cranberry ice. Next time.

Uptown at Cosmos, we met out one of my girlfriends from high school and Lisa's cousin. Lisa defended Jazzercise's honor when a Rob Lowe lookalike said it was for old ladies. In her defense, Jen brought it up to every guy we tried to fix her up with. Thus, the phrase of the weekend became: "OMG, this is a Jazzercise song." (to the tune of 30+ times). After Cosmos, we walked to Cans for some serious dance floor action. Definitely a night to remember.

After last night's antics, it's only fitting that we had lunch today on a college campus at Davidson's Soda Shop. I loved the Pink Elephant soda (strawberry Sprite!), and the burgers were juicy and delicious. Also had my first introduction to cottage fries. I'm in love. Then we napped while watching reruns of America's Next Top Model. Not a lot of action today.

Unfortunately, we left 60+ degrees today and sunshine to go back to Cleveland blah weather. Side note: Charlotte airport bathrooms have attendants with mouthwash and gum that try handing you one-ply paper towels like you're at House of Blues. Super weird.

Can't wait for Cleveland weather to catch up. My toes look pretty and need some more flip flop action. (Note: Ladies, Amanda at LaBarberia in Little Italy rules. And, they serve wine during mani/pedis! Hook yourself up.)

3 cities in 3 days -- and a new state!

VIP manipedi + visiting baby, fun at Charlotte yummy restaurants

You know your travel schedule is a little crazy when foursquare gives you kudos for checking into three different airports in three days...

First trip was a mama-and-me visit to Charlotte with the baby to see my college friend Jen. I realized that I hadn't visited since right before I got pregs with the Pickle...long time.

I ate well at Soul Gastrolounge and The Crepe Cellar on Friday night while Jen's husband Matt did a bang-up job of first time babysitting. The tiny Soul reminded me of a hipster Michael Symon joint since pork belly and fried brussel sprouts were on the menu. At The Crepe Cellar, we created a new menu item by concocting a mashup of the brownie and banana fosters crepes...mmmm!

On Saturday, we shopped and basked in the 77-degree weather while the Cleve got a dusting of snow (sorry).

On Sunday, Jen pulled some strings (she's so VIP) and got her regular nail and massage places to open up just for us...can't think of a better way to spend St. Paddy's Day! However, I bet Matt would disagree as he was my babysitter and baby chauffeur...at one point, he delivered Sienna to me for a feeding while I was having my toes done!

Flew home on Monday morning to spend the day with the Pickle before a work road trip to Indianapolis. Yay for a pin on the map for Indiana!
 

Delightful dishes at Late Harvest Kitchen, roadtripping to a new state, my packing "helper"

Found a great local spot thanks to Urbanspoon called Late Harvest Kitchen.The locally sourced chicken thighs and gnocchi were amazing! Sticky toffee pudding was good too.

Now, back in NYC until Friday. Time to kick off March Madness and finally fill out my brackets!

Squeezing in a summer trip to Charlotte

Fam portrait downtown

I am woefully behind in writing this post since we got back from Charlotte almost two weeks ago. I have a good excuse though – in the past two weeks, I started a new job and we’ve been packing up our house as we prepare to move at the end of the month.

Before we left for Charlotte, Phil told me I had no business going on the trip since we were in the midst of so much upheaval, but I really wanted to squeeze in some family and friend time before I started my new gig, particularly since Jen has been encouraging us to come down for summer boating fun for years.

We had a great time! Our friends were so hands on with the kids, and Phil and I even had an afternoon to ourselves getting massages (!!!). Jen and I shopped for some last-minute work wardrobe finds and Dylan got to drive another boat, this time on Lake Norman.

Sienna finally warmed up to pool time

Strolling/swinging around downtown Charlotte during restaurant week

Captain Pickle with Big Tom (Jen's dad)

Touring the children's museum while mom & dad get massages

Ah, well. Back to packing.

Little Italy, Coventry & Gordon Square

Brunching it up at Washington Place Bistro

Ugh. I feel disgusting from all the eating I've done this weekend. But, Jen raved on and on about Cleveland's restaurant scene, so all of the gorging was worth it! And, the Pickle was such a good little diner. 

We started at Washington Place Bistro for brunch in Little Italy. Yay for monkey bread and mimosas! 

From there, we spent a couple hours on Coventry in all of the shops. We hit Big Fun, Next, American Apparel, Winds of Change and City Buddha. (What happened to Brigade??? I didn't know it moved to Beachwood Place.) We would have stopped in Blush, but it was randomly closed.

I CANNOT WAIT to get him in these hilarious American Apparel 70s short with knee socks!

Jen's flight was tonight, so we persuaded Phil to join us at Luxe on the patio since he had never been and Gordon Square is sort of on the way to the airport. Dylan CRUSHED the short rib and potato gnocchi (why wouldn't he?...it's awesome). Then we went across the street to Sweet Moses for malts and sundaes. They had the cutest little table for minis, and Dylan made friends with a little girl and her giant lollipop.

Mmmm..Sweet Moses!

I can't believe we almost hit every place on our list. We only missed Tremont and some East side stuff, but Jen has been to those places before. I realized that I left out Chagrin Falls as a must-see neighborhood. I haven't been in a while, but need to hit up Jeni's soon. Who's in?

Operation Life Doesn't Suck After Baby commences this weekend

Last summer when I was super pregs and had limited traveling options, my favorite out-of-town gal pals came to visit me and my belly. Luckily, this summer, I’m getting a repeat performance.

My friend Jen from Charlotte is visiting this weekend, and Sarah and her minis are coming in next weekend for Dylan’s one-year birthday parties (Yes, parties…one for each side of the fam).

Sarah has been my mom role model ever since I visited her and three-week-old Ella and realized that you can be a mom and not be a hermit. I’m hoping that I have a similar effect on Jen as we eat, shop and stroll in the Cleve off and on with The Pickle.

Here’s the tentative itinerary for the weekend:

Downtown:

• Farmer’s market/food truck noshing
• E. 4th shopping at The Dredger’s Union
• Rock Hall for Women Who Rock exhibit (they have Lady Gaga’s meat dress!)
• Maybe rooftop dining at The Greenhouse Tavern

Ohio City/Tremont/Gordon Square:

• West Side Market chowing and people watching
• Shopping at Room Service
• Maybe dinner at Bac
• Blowing my diet at Sweet Moses

East Side:

• Manipedis
• Shopping at Legacy Village and Brigade on Coventry
• Maybe dinner at Rockefeller’s (haven’t tried yet)
• Fam brunch at Washington Place Bistro

When friends come into town, what’s on your must-see list?

Do-nut try this at home

Um, remember when I said I was going to win the female category for fastest donut-eating split? I was an idiot. I couldn't even finish all 12 donuts.

My appetite street cred has taken a dive, but I'm pretty happy that I finished 256 out of 448 women in the race (5,038 participants total). The winner was a 20-year-old guy who finished in less than 30 minutes. That is insane. Only 2,100 out of 5038 actually successfully completed the challenge (4 miles, 12 donuts all within 60 minutes).

As you can imagine, there were lots of funny characters. The pic above is of a bunch of kids who chestpainted themselves "SportsCenter" to catch the attention of the ESPN camera crew. I saw more than one of them hurling on the side of the road during the run back.

The race organization was pretty good considering there were 5,000 competitors, but it took a few minutes to get our donuts, and it was tough to find water, which was not cool.

After our first two miles, just as we got into the Krispy Kreme parking lot, some guy ran out, already starting the last leg of the race. However, his donuts did not go with him.

As we were eating, I had the perfect opportunity to get a guy on film as he was erupting (eyes glazed over, gagging), but I put my camera back in my pocket because I felt bad for him (sorry, Kevin). I would be horrified if anyone captured me looking like that.

It was a struggle to get down 8 donuts. I started gagging, and I knew it was it for me. Phil finished all 12. What a champ! We watched people smash their donuts into pancakes, stack them up and chomp em. Everyone had a different strategy.

The last two miles of the race were a combo of running, slowing down to burp, stopping to hold back a barf and then starting up again. Not my best moments.

After the race, I felt like ass, and could not stop brushing my teeth to get rid of the sugar taste. (No, I did not puke.) But, I felt better when I woke up after a two-hour sugar coma during the drive to Charlotte.

I used to LOVE glazed donuts...not no more. OK, let's be honest...at least not today.


P.S. The N.C. sunshine is fantastic and heals all ills. We're having a blast with Jen and Matt! I even kept my Luna streak going with a fun purchase last night. Jen & I wish you were here, Zone!

UPDATE: cleveland.com included an excerpt from this post in the "what local bloggers are saying" section. And, Channel 3 ran a story yesterday about the race.

UPDATE 2: Watch this hilarious video from ESPN.

Hitting the beach in Miami after a long break

I’m back from hiatus - travel certainly slowed down for me during the second half of the year. I did have a trip to Indy last month, but I was too lazy to blog, to be honest. But now I’m back after what I hope is an annual girls’ destination trip with my friend Jen. Our first destination was Miami for a long weekend – more specifically, Sunny Isles Beach.

The past four days were absolutely fantastic, particularly after the bruising winter we're having! So happy to retreat from polar vortexes while basking in Florida sunshine. I've only been to the Miami area once before - in 2006 with Phil when he had a conference in South Beach. 

The Trump international Resort where we stayed and Sunny Isles Beach were amazeballs in general for 3 reasons:


The beautiful hotel had wonderful service, a fantastic pool and great beach- and pool-side dining options. We booked on Expedia and I liked that there were lots of inclusions. For example, we didn’t have to pay extra for beach chairs, umbrellas and towels on the beach. The hotel is kid-friendly too and I hope to bring the entire fam back.

Quiet, soft, well-kept beach. Even though I only dipped my toes in the water, I liked that we were close to the lifeguard station. I loved running in the sand each morning…sometimes barefoot and sometimes with running shoes.

Great location with lots to do around the hotel. There was a “utility” shopping plaza across the street for anything from groceries to nails to breakfast to booze to souvenirs, and there also were a couple of lux shopping options within a 5 minute cab ride. And, not once did we have a challenging tab getting a cab back to the hotel. 

Such a great trip and I can't wait for my next vacation, which will be in a few months when our who fam heads to Albuquerque.

2nd canceled flight = (guilty) Vegas bonus day #2

Best news of the day: Ava is safe and not starving, albeit pissed that she's been left alone this long.

Worst news of the day: Our flight was canceled when we arrived at the airport, and we were told we couldn't fly home until Tuesday.

Another day of ups and downs. We got up early to check our flight status and Cleveland weather, and thought we might be safe since I received a trip alert confirmation on the way to the airport. Then, I tried to check my bag with my boarding pass and the kiosk told me to see an agent. Uh oh. Jerkface agent took a little too much delight in telling us that our flight was canceled five minutes ago and there would be no flights to Cleveland until Tuesday. You've...got...to...be...kidding...me. Phil was extra disappointed since the news crushed his dream of a first-class seat. Our situation reminded me of a t-shirt I considered buying at David & Goliath that said, "When life hands you lemons, squirt them in someone's eye." I wanted to squirt a lemon (or three) into that agent's face.

We got in the horrendous line to re-book, and I simultaneously called the travel agent. After a 30-minute wait, she found us a reasonable room at MGM Grand. Then we spoke with a Continental agent who diligently searched for flights on alternative carriers at our request (Rosemary Bachelor at Continental is the best!), and after a half hour or so, she was able to book Phil on a flight tomorrow that connects through Phoenix and me on one that connects through Charlotte. Phil's phone was dying and he didn't bring his charger, so it was scary to think about what could happen if each of us got stuck after the first leg of our flight. I have my girlfriend Jen in Charlotte, but Phil doesn't know a soul in Phoenix. But, each of us got the last seat on each of our flights. And, if we actually make it home tomorrow, we'll be thrilled. We're past ready to go back to Cleveland.

Once we got to our new hotel, we were starving since we hadn't eaten breakfast. I was happy we were staying at MGM since it was new scenery and offered the opportunity to see things at the opposite end of the strip than where we stayed earlier this week. And, it reminded me of my dad because he brought me back a hideous T-shirt when I was a teenager that I never wore, but couldn't bear to get rid of.

Neither of us were in the mood for ANOTHER buffet, but for lunch, they're usually the most economical since a sandwich and a water will still cost you $20 anyway. Silliness. Then I saw short ribs AND mini corn dogs and was in heaven. I heard Phil shout, "They have everything! This is awesome!" and we were yet again on our way to stuffing ourselves. I will spare you another list of my food choices, but I will say that I had one plate entirely devoted to carbs.

At our table, we called our families to give them travel updates and tried reaching my uncle and Pat about the pets. At this point, I knew Ava would be really low or out of food and I started feeling more nervous, so I left a message for my Uncle Rob about checking in on her. And, I felt extra guilty to have to ask Pat to watch Zip yet another day. We moped for a little while because it sucks feeling like you're taking advantage of people and we felt like huge pains in the asses. And, we couldn't believe how much snow everyone was dealing with at home. Neither of our families could get out of their driveways, much less down the street. We reminisced about each of our crazy blizzard driving stories (like when my younger brother "crashed" my first car in slow motion into my teacher's landscaping after begging me to teach him to drive during a snow day). Then we had a pep talk and decided what could we do but make the best of things.

It was starting to get really warm and we were both pretty much out of fresh clothes, so we went on a hunt to find the cheapest, most ridiculous shirts we could (OK, it was only me who wanted to do this), and I also was dying for flip flops...my favorite symbol of warm weather. Phil vetoed my initial shirt selections for us (me: hideous orange Las Vegas County jail inmate shirt, Phil: "Tell your boobs to stop looking at my eyes" shirt). So we ended up with normal-looking (aka boring) t-shirts for a total of $8, and I got fun red plastic flip flops that ended up hurting like hell but let my toes breathe. We also found a cell phone charger for Phil.

We started feeling superstitious about what it would take to get us home. For example, I hypothesized that Vegas did not want me to leave before enjoying a ridiculous Eiffel Tower frozen strawberry margarita, and Phil insisted that we wouldn't be able to get a flight out until we saw Fat Elvis at Harrah's.

So, to please the Vegas gods (and more importantly: me), we walked to Paris so I could finally enjoy my drink (so delicious). Then we wandered through casinos back toward MGM (miraculously, without playing anything) and saw a lady win $1,000 (dammit, that should have been our win for Kim!) on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine.

The weather was still gorgeous, but the winds starting getting gusty and it reminded me of when I ran a half-marathon here five years ago. Vegas is supposed to be one of the easiest courses for beginners, but my race was plagued by 58-mph winds that resulted in Port-a-Potties barreling down the streets and sand in my eyes, ears and socks. I was able to finish, but it was a crazy race.

On our walk back to MGM, I heard from Pat that she lost power and had no heat, and I wasn't sure what to do since she said she and the kids were considering going somewhere else. I knew it would be tough to fit her, three teenagers and two dogs in her car, so we started brainstorming about what to do to make things easier for her. Phil suggested calling my brother to see if he had power and could take Zippy for a night (he has a 16-month old, a wife who's eight months pregnant and a crazy Jack Russell, which is why we didn't ask him to watch Zip in the first place). He offered to help out and then we heard from Pat that her power was back on, which was a relief. But I still felt really guilty about her burden of watching (and cleaning up after) our dog since she's been far from her best behavior this week.

When we got back to our hotel, we went to see the lions. They made me think of my poor kitty. I thought it was cool to learn that lion cubs weigh 1.5 lbs. when they're born and grow to 390 (female) to 500 lbs. (male). The MGM has something like 38 lions on its ranch.

We were still stuffed from brunch, so we headed to the tables (addicts, I tell you) and tried blackjack for the first time, which we sucked at. Oh well. At least we tried something new. Then we grabbed sandwiches for dinner and headed back to our room to catch the rest of the UNC vs. Duke game and crash.

Thankfully, my uncle called to say that he was able to dig out his driveway after shoveling all day (he had four feet of snow) and made it across town (he's a saint) to our house to check on Ava. Apparently our driveway was in even worse shape than his and he couldn't even pull onto our street because it hadn't been plowed. But, our kitty is fine, has fresh food, water and litter, and I feel so much better.

So, we're 0 for 2 with flights home. Third time's a charm, right? My fingers are crossed that Phil I don't end up in different states tomorrow night.

Everything's better with cherry blossoms

 

Last night I had the privilege of experiencing Carli's infamous evening monument tour. She was right -- they look amazing at dusk and in darkness. It was chilly last night, but definitely bearable from all the walking we did. Oh, my piggies were oinking.

Today starts D.C.'s two-week long Cherry Blossom Festival. This year marks the 98th anniversary of when Tokyo gifted the trees to Washington. I read on the train yesterday that the festival is the district's highest-grossing tourist event, but we barely saw anyone as we walked around the Tidal Basin. I'm sure today will be a different story.

I can't believe my Japan trip was a year ago. Walking around the Tidal Basin reminded me of when Gina and I walked around the moat surrounding the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, which was lined with cherry blossom trees (and young professionals wining and dining on tarps beneath their branches). I hope Carli and I see tarps filled with people today!                                                                                                                                                           

She's been spoiling me with her new domestic diva skills -- homemade guac when I arrived, pesto pasta last night and now hashbrowns this morning...mmm! She's a girl after my own heart (love you, Jen)!

4 miles + 12 donuts=Krispy Kreme Challenge

For the past four years, Phil and I have signed up for a race after the holidays to keep our Christmastime gorging in check. We like races with a twist, and until this year, have participated in the Arnold 5k Pump & Run . That race couples a bench press competition with a 5k race and is held in conjunction with the Arnold Classic in Columbus. You see some freaky bodybuilder competitors...and then there's me. My goal has always been to get one rep on the bench (seriously) and pass up the grannies during the run.

At the Arnold last year, I found out about the Krispy Kreme Challenge in Raleigh, N.C., and have been wearing Phil down ever since to sign up. My persistence paid off because this year, we're swapping the bench press with donut scarfing.

Yes, the Krispy Kreme Challenge entails running two miles to a Krispy Kreme store, eating 12 glazed donuts and running two miles back, all in under an hour. Hopefully, without puking. However, from the YouTube videos I've seen, there's quite a bit of donuts that don't stay down.

More than 5,000 people signed up, which equates to about 60,000 donuts that need eaten. I can't wait to see how this all unfolds. Usually there aren't many girls who compete, so I'm gunning for the fastest donut eating split in the female category (again, seriously). My Melt dinner club buddies won't be surprised by this goal, I'm sure.

The race starts at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow at the NC State Belltower. ESPN has pledged to cover the race, so look for us. I'll be in mostly black with my CLE+ sticker pinned to my back. I'm running with my camera, so I'll do what I can to snag pics and videos...man, a helmet camera would've been great!

After the race, we're driving to Charlotte to stay with my friend Jen for the rest of the weekend. Pizza meatloaf and homemade mac n cheese is for dinner....mmm! Hopefully, we still have an appetite...

Competitor 2391

"We're the three best friends..."

How lucky am I?!

I saw three of my BFFs during our amazeballs HHI vacation.

Kim (top left) organized our HHI trip (thank you!!!!)

Jen hosted us in Charlotte during our drive home (she's in the upper right with D during a live music show)

Sarah flew into HHI a few days early just to spend time with us since her fam vacay there started the Saturday that we left. This was the first time our hubs and littlest babies met.

Love these girls and was glad to get time with them!!!