2010

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
seriously tried out online dating
road trip on the pacific northwest coastal highway
taught summer school
went to the manayunk bike race
went to maryland wine festival
kickball team

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
1. healthy eating - kept track of eating from jan-may. shit hit the fan in the summer, but my veggie box and i are having a very happy life together. so, check.
2. finances - I didn't really make a lot of headway when you look at totals, but significant expenses came up this year (ccp classes, moving, bed)... and I don't owe any more. I took steps to get a loan to pay them off as well.
3. not blowing off guys - i really gave the online dating thing a good shot. and right now, things seem to be on the up swing.
4. i kept my blog religiously until the summer, and I am trying to revive it.

I'm still working on my resolutions for this coming year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
I don't think so.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
thank god, no.

5. What countries did you visit?
none in 2010. sad. does portland count?

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
a healthy relationship perhaps

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Nov 6th - Homecoming wasn't anything spectacular or grand, but it was a particularly amazing time this year, and I will definitely remember it.
Other events stick out, but not actual dates. I guess I just forget them.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
getting back into yoga (after taking like march-aug off) and running (after taking may-oct off)
weight lifting regularly 2 times a week (starting in about october)

9. What was your biggest failure?
the serial dating thing totally did not work out.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
nothing out of the ordinary

11. What were the best things you bought?
my bed!
my new boots and winter coats

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Jess and Candie, Becca and Julia for standing up for what they wanted/didn't want, plus everyone else who moved on from something that wasn't healthy for them

13. Whose behavior appalled you?
how about arlene ackerman?

14. Where did most of your money go?
rent, credit card bills, CCP, food, alcohol

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
going to portland!
happy hours (even if they were a bit excessive)
the thought of actually meeting someone who i can open up to

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
taylor swift's first album
Jay Z - young forever
michael buble

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? same
ii. thinner or fatter? same
iii. richer or poorer? same

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
have sex

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
eharmony

20. How will you be spending Christmas and/or New Year's?
christmas eve was with karen and her family
christmas day was with my sister, candie, and victoria (and eve!)
new years with the ingela

22. Did you fall in love in 2010?
nope

23. How many one-night stands?
none actually

24. What was your favorite TV program?
the bachelor and the bachelorette, followed by gossip girl

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
i don't waste time hating people

26. What was the best book you read?
100 places every woman should go

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
bittorrent

28. What did you want and get?
teaching in an elementary school

29. What did you want and not get?
to pay my bills off

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
i can't really answer this question

31. What did you do on your birthday?
had a big party at my apartment. tons and tons of fun. and made bad drinking decisions involving tequila, brandy, wine, and beer that resulted in me not drinking liquor any more. and i lost my cardigan.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
more sex

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
summer: skirts, tank tops, flowers, easy breezy
fall/winter: leggings, skinny jeans, boots, tights, sweaters

34. What kept you sane?
Jess, happy hours, yoga/running/gym

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
i'm team edward, but jacob is smoking

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
freakin race to the top. god obama, i like you less now because of that.

37. Who did you miss?
my dad

38. Who was the best new person you met?
hard to answer

Back on the Wagon

Talk about falling off of the wagon!

I have been seriously absent from my blog! About the time I stopped internet dating, I stopped posting. Well, folks - not only did I reactivate my OkCupid account, I have decided to breathe life into my blog as well.

I have been lifting for the past month or so. Most weeks, I have met my goal of going 3 times. I do an upper/lower split that does not take very long (25 minutes). This is a big change from my practically cardio-only approach that I did for so long. I don't know that I'm really seeing any big results/changes - but at least it's getting me doing something different and shaking things up. I am going to yoga once a week, salsa class once a week, lifting 3 times (or trying to!), and doing some other cardio after lifting - usually about 20-25 minutes twice a week. I'm going to start doing a little more lifting and a little more cardio (reintroducing running I think). It's hard for me to not do very much of it, but I've read time and time again that strength training is more beneficial in the long run.

Anyway - this is what I'm doing weights wise. The stars are next to new additions that I will be starting today.

Upper (3x10, previously 2x15)

Lat Pull Down
Military Press
One armed row
Bench Press
Curls
**Pull Ups (machine assisted)
**Lateral Raises
**Tricep Extensions/Dips
Abs


Lower (3x10, previously 2x15)

Squats
Dead Lifts
Calf Raises **(one foot)
Lunges (previously unweighted, adding dumbells)
Sumo Squats
Back Extensions
Abs

Bucket List

It's been a long summer, and I will update on my comings and goings shortly.

However, I have been thinking about creating a Bucket List, and here it is in its beginning stages. Some are simple enough things that I just haven't done, and some are more hard core. Some will take nerve. Any suggestions/comments?

Kat's Bucket List:

1. Outdoor rock climbing
2. White water kayaking
3. Hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
4. Spend at least a month in S.E. Asia
5. Rio for Carnaval
6. Live on the West Coast for a bit
7. African Safari
8. Learn to surf


That's all I have for now.

The end of online dating?

6 more days of summer school! I'm super psyched. I haven't really minded it (awesome paychecks), but it will be nice to have a few weeks of nothing to do. And I REALLY excited about our vacation road trip. Like, really really excited.

Over the past couple weeks, I have been rightly celebrating summer by going out and having lots of happy hours, but I've been going to the gym and trying to eat pretty well at the same time to balance it all out. So far, so good. My goal for the next couple weeks is to start running more (again) and find my way back to yoga. I ran on Sunday, which is a good start!

I'm working 2 more shifts at Dock St - a double this Saturday and a lunch shift next Saturday. The extra money is awesome - but I'm excited to have all of my time back. I'll still be around for people to call me if they need someone to cover their shift, but I won't be on the schedule anymore.

So about this online dating thing. I think it's over between the two of us. I have a pretty full social calendar. I've joined a few meet up groups, I've started taking dance classes and going out dancing again - so I'm around some different people and have the opportunity to meet some different people. I'm tired of first dates and meeting people that I don't have much chemistry with. It's been fun - and a great experiment - and maybe in a few months, I'll join match.com again (by far my favorite out of the three, by the way), but for now - I'm going to hide my okcupid profile and just take it easy. There is one guy that I went out with a couple weeks again that I'm going to go on a second date with, but other than that - I'm going to not meet anyone new for awhile.

This guy I met at Nodding Head, where we had dinner and a couple beers. It was nice - he's funny. He has been texting me randomly, which is nice. We were going to meet up on Saturday, but he ended up going out with some friends for his birthday. I think we may have dinner on Friday. I will let you know how it goes.

Fourth of July

I had a wonderful time this weekend! I worked Friday night and Saturday lunch and made a bunch of money, which was awesome. Ingela came (finally!) to Philly on Saturday afternoon and stayed until Sunday evening. We did quite a bit when she was here!

Saturday, as soon as she got here, we went to Northern Libs and caught part of the Matt and Kim concert. Kim is by far the happiest and most excited person that I have ever seen in my life. I would be interested to see how she is in her daily life. I can imagine her jumping in and out of Starbucks and bouncing around in her chair while she eats her lunch.

After the concert, we went to my favorite place: Dos Segundos. Yum: sopes and salad = delicious! Later that evening, we met up some with friends at Devil's Alley. It was an amazing night, and we got outside tables on the sidewalk since it wasn't very busy. At the very end of the night, Ingela and I met up with my friend Renata at this funny rooftop party at the Roosevelt. It was in the pent house ... no one lives there. Most of the people there had no idea WHY they were there. Awesome views though, lots of balconies and decks. A pretty good band played for a bit.

On Sunday, we went to the 1oth st Pourhouse (delicious and cheap!) for brunch. We then planned our AWESOME road trip, which I am super excited about. We are going to spend some time in San Fran, then go through the Napa valley, stop at a winery or two. Spend the night in Fort Bragg, going to one of the top 10 microbreweries in the country. Then, we will drive to Gold Beach in Oregon, where we will take a jet boat tour before going to Portland. Hiking, exploring the city, seeing Cannon Beach and the goonies rock will all happen before going north to Camano Island and Seattle. It's going to be a blast!

My Independence Day celebrations started after that with the Penn's Landing Icecream Festival, the Roots and Goo Goo Dolls concerts, fireworks on the Parkway, and Pete's afterwards. It was an amazing day. I had such a nice time and have some fun pictures to put up.

Yesterday, I spent some time in Rittenhouse with my sister before it got really hot, which I love. I also started SALSA classes, which I am super excited about. I miss dancing so much and am super pumped to learn actually HOW to dance. I've taken lessons here and there before and have done quite a bit of dancing in the past... enough to know the basics, but not enough to be very good. I'm pumped, especially since this means I'll go out dancing more often to practice! I miss it!

Going out with the guy from Northern Liberties again this week... on Thursday. (I shall dub him NoLibs Guy). Should be nice. We are going to go to dinner, and he mentioned going back to his apt to drink beer. Haha. Sounds perfect.

Road Trips and Fun!

Jess (sister), Ingela (best friend from high school), and I are taking a road trip next month. I am super duper excited, since we are starting to actually plan it and I am looking at all the cool things that we are going to be able to do!

We are flying into San Francisco, spending a few days there, and then driving north to Seattle. We are going to take 2 days to go from San Fran to Portland, stopping at Redwood National Park and some cool beaches, etc in Oregon. I am so excited!! We are going to spend a few days in Portland, too - which is awesome. I am going to be able to see my awesome friend Emily and spend some time with Ingela's cousin. Then, we will drive up to Seattle, spend a night or two with her family friends on some island (woo!) and then spend a night in Seattle before we fly home. I'm super pumped. Ingela is coming tomorrow and we the 3 of us are going to plan our trip!

eHarmony:
I have deleted my account on eHarmony. I went out on 4 dates with the Alfa guy. He was nice, and I had a nice time with him - but in the end, there just wasn't enough chemistry. I was disappointed, because I enjoyed spending time with him - but by the fourth date, if I am freaking out because you want to go back to your apt and I don't ---- then I'm just not that into you.
I met one other person for lunch last Friday. He is a middle school history teacher in NJ and works part time on the Spirit of Philadelphia. I had a nice time with him actually, and I texted him yesterday - but haven't heard back. Maybe he didn't like me. That's okay.

OkCupid:
I rejoined OkCupid. I figured that I since I'm trying to pay bills OFF, that paying for match.com isn't the most economical thing to do. I have met a couple people so far. I met someone on Sunday who I will most likely go out with again. We went to North Third. I had a nice time, not sure about the chemistry - but I'll have to wait and see. He lives in Northern Liberties and has a red convertible.
Last night, I met someone else. We went to Nodding Head. Dinner drug on a little longer than I would have liked - but we talked about all sorts of things, including schools, religion, work, gym. He asked me what yoga is good for (an honest question, though I got a bit defensive at first). He is not quite opinionated as me (haha), but that's probably better, haha. At the end, he said that he had a really nice time. It was a little awkward, and I think that at the end, he may have wanted to kiss me. Unless I'm sure that I like someone, I found that I do not want necessarily want to kiss them.

Then I went home and at 2 AM, I got violently ill. (I won't be eating at Nodding Head anytime soon).

Fourth of July Weekend:
I work tonight and tomorrow lunch at Dock St. (I'm trying to get my credit cards paid off, and should be able to pay off the one by September! Then, I can put all of that money into my other one! Its a lot of working, but looks like it will help me get the bills paid off pretty well!) Then Ingela is coming. I think we are going to go to dinner with a friend who also has a friend coming into town and hang out with my friend Megan. Sunday, I want to go to the ice cream festival at Penn's Landing and probably will be around the Parkway for the concerts (roots and goo goo dolls!) and fireworks. It's going to be wicked hot though. I'm not sure how long she will be sticking around, but I think that Megan and her roommate are having a party too which should be fun.

Monday, I'm going to start taking salsa classes! I'm super duper excited about that too! My environmental science class at CCP is over now, so I will have 3 extra nights per week free! Crazy. I'm going to be able to go to the gym more and have time to sit around at home (or... go out. haha).

Dates

I originally paid for a 3 month subscription to eHarmony. Combined with the fact that I decided after the first day that I didn't like it and the fact that it takes a really freakin long time sometimes to move through the "guided communication" process... I didn't spend too much time with it, and didn't end up meeting anyone from eHarmony until recently - maybe 3 weeks ago. Nice enough guy, but we didn't really click and our second date lasted exactly 2 hours on the dot.

Last week my card got charged for the 3rd month. I decided that I would give it a decent try for the last 4 weeks and see where it took me. I sifted through 191 matches (they send you a certain number each day and you are supposed to well, look at them and talk to them). I messaged guys who I had been ignoring. I closed out matches with anyone who doesn't live in Philadelphia, since I had to get through those 191 matches somehow. And so far, I've met 3 guys in the past week - the 34 year old Irish dude I already talked about (who texted me asking for another date, but I graciously declined) and two news that I met this weekend.

Here's a quick run down:

1. I met a guy for happy hour on Friday. He met me outside my apartment, and we went to Alfa. He's 26 and works in higher education. My first impression of him was that he was cute. He only had one picture on eHarmony - so it could have gone either way. We sat at a table in the back (which I was unsure of at first, I thought we could just sit at the bar - but having a table turned out nicely). We had really nice conversation and happy hour turned into 3 hour and 4 beers. It might have turned into dinner if I didn't already have plans for Megan to come over. It's better though - a too long first date takes all of the mystery out of it, and I think we all know (or well, some of us know) what can happen if I have a marathon first date and am drinking. Right. Found a reason to touch him (look at the t-shirt he was wearing under his button down) and the fact that I even WANTED to touch him was a good sign! When he walked me back, I asked him about his weekend plans, and we made plans to watch the Flyers game 2 on Monday at the Fox and the Hound - a sports bar right on the corner from my apartment. Oh, and this guy doesn't live right in the city - He lives near Bala Cynwood, but it's a hell of a lot closer than Far Away Guy.

Summary? There was chemistry, I liked him, and I am excited to see him tomorrow.

2. I met another guy at the Continental Midtown for lunch on Saturday. We sat on the roof, which was nice, but he got there 10 minutes early and just went up the roof and got a table (instead of waiting outside like most guys would). Anyway, that's fine. He proceeds to immediately tell me that he's hungover because one of his fraternity brothers was in town the night before. He told me where they went- and no wonder he was hung over, since he named like 10 places. He then told me at least 3 stories where he referred to his college fraternity days (and a couple ABOUT his college fraternity days). Throw in a story about a homeless dude with a coke and a mentioning that he likes to walk everywhere 983293 times, and you have a dud my friends.

Summary? I didn't even text him to say that it was nice to meet him. I don't think he liked me much tho either (could probably tell that I didn't like him).

Big Changes

Change #1:
I got a job!! I was offered a job at an elementary school in North Philadelphia on Saturday, but didn't take it right away. I accepted today and will sign tomorrow! Hopefully I will be teaching 3rd or 4th grade, however, I may end up in 6th. I certainly hope not though. It's actually the school that my co-teacher is going to be at next year, which will be nice! (and what are the chances of that, really?)

Change #2:
I moved! On Friday, I moved into a studio at 15th and Spruce. I absolutely love this location, and it's been relatively quiet since I moved in. I still need a bookshelf so that I can unpack the rest of my boxes, and I am planning on getting two chairs for extra seating, since right now - I just have my kitchen table and bed. I'll take some pictures soon. Jack, my cat, is a little sad. I don't think he really likes being an only cat, but he will adjust soon enough.

Other changes/updates:
Far Away Guy seems to have died out. With the distance, I think we would have to be really great for each other for it to work. I liked him, but I'm over it, and not surprised or upset. We had a nice time, and I was reminded what chemistry actually feels like. So, I've been meeting some new people from eHarmony, even though I don't like it. I met two people so far - and I haven't really had any great amount of chemistry with either one. I have been on two dates with the one who lives in South Philly, and we get along well and have had a nice time. If he asks me out again, I'll probably go to see what happens. I also met an Irish guy last night. He is a little older than guys I normally date, and I just wasn't really feeling it. He texted me about going out again, but eh. What's the point when I know I really don't like him? He totally wanted to kiss me last night, but I gave him a quick hug and kind of ran inside.

My gym routine has been sparse with the move and 3 interviews last week, and my new Environmental Science class starting last week and such. I am getting back on the wagon this week - starting with walking to and from class (about 2.5 miles round trip). I was thinking about going to the gym after class tonight (which is 6-8) to lift, but I'm not sure that will want to. I'm going to go to class in my gym clothes though just in case. I think I will go and lift just for 30 minutes or so. I ran 4 miles on Sunday which was nice.

3 years

This year, my two least favorite days fall on the same date: May 9th.

May 9th is Mother's Day this year. I am not affected my Mother's Day as was a little girl in school, where everyone made Mother's Day cards and crafts every single year. I made them too, and I gave them to my dad. From the time I was six on ... my dad WAS my mother. He cooked me dinner, sewed my clothes when they ripped, bought me pads/tampons when I got my period, took me shopping, helped out with my girl scout troop. While there were other women in my life for sure, my dad filled the mother role comfortably, and he did a pretty good job at it.

We never went to my mother's grave on Mother's Day, because it was too hard and painful for my dad. We didn't even really talk about her until I was much older - in high school or maybe even college. I am sure that a good dose of therapy would have helped me deal with things when I was younger - because if there is one thing my dad didn't teach me, it was how to deal with tough things. Luckily, he didn't chose to deal with things badly by drinking or doing any other harmful activities - he just sunk into a depression, lasting most of my adolescent and teenage years. Possibly the only thing that saved him was that I was still at home, and he had to take care of me. Instead of facing up to whatever it was that needed facing, I learned to simply pretend that everything was fine and to not actually deal with anything (something that I still struggle with today).

Despite my dad's depression and whatnot, he was an active father who spent a lot of time with me and obviously loved me immensely. He satisfied both parental roles pretty successfully and supported me in pretty much everything I wanted to do - whether he totally agreed with my decisions or not. We went on vacations. He came to every single orchestra concert I ever had. He took me to church when I decided I wanted to start going. We almost always ate dinner together, often going out to eat- because he hated to cook. He helped me look at and get my first car(s), fixing them when I was stupid, not killing me when I wrecked his. He knew my friends. He helped me pick a college, came and helped my sorority grill for Homecoming, and didn't complain or try to convince me otherwise when I decided to move to Honduras for a year.

Today marks three years since my dad died. He had a massive heart attack at work and was rushed to the hospital. I was in Honduras at the time and got a phone call from my sister when I was teaching. Immediately knowing something was wrong, and a little worried that what I feared the most was coming true, I rushed to call her back. (My dad had his first heart attack before I was born. He had many more mild ones throughout his life, and I always knew that someday he would have one that his heart couldn't handle. I was worried the most that he would die alone.) Two days later, I flew home. Two or three days after that, we disconnected him from life support. 36 hours later, he died - but he wasn't alone.

This year, Mother's Day falls on May 9th - the anniversary of my father's death. While I have dealt with his death in my own ways, true to form, I don't really talk about him or my mother that often. Blogging about it is one of the the only ways I am comfortable doing it, and it is my way of saying "Everything is NOT fine, but I am okay." And while losing someone that played such a vital role in my life can be excruciatingly hard, I know my dad would rather us celebrate the life he had, then cry over the life he lost. So instead of tears, I will celebrate by eating an ice cream sundae and watching a western. Here's to you dad.

Broad St Run!

Yesterday was the Broad St Run. It was really hot.

Despite the awful heat, I managed to finish without dying, passing out, or needing medical attention of any kind. I consider that a bit of a feat in and of itself! :)

I didn't run it nearly as fast as I was hoping that I would. I actually ran it in like a 11:40 mile, which is a minute per mile SLOWER than last year. It frustrates me a little, but that's okay. I lost my running partners really early on. The one savior of the day were the hydrants. They had them open like sprinklers, which was really nice. You got soaked running through them, but I ran through every single one on the right side of the road! Afterwards, leaving the Naval Yard, I didn't feel so great, but a great brunch at the house of a friend of my roommate really helped!

Later on, I took a bus out to Valley Forge and met up with far away guy. We had a really nice time .... drank some German beer, ate food at the Sly Fox Brewery, played the bean bag toss ( I seriously need some practice), and watched True Blood. (This was exciting, because I don't have HBO - so I've only seen the 1st season. I'm still waiting for the 2nd season to come out on NetFlix!) At the end of the night, he drove me home - which was really sweet considering it was completely and totally out of his way.

Phillies game on Wednesday (Cinco de Mayo!)

new prospects

So let's call him "Far Away Guy." He lives in Phoenixville and works in West Chester. Those places are pretty far away. But I like him, so I think it's okay.

We first met a few weeks ago, I'm not sure when. (It was back in the first warm phase... I was wearing a skirt/tank top.) We met at the German beer place on South St and had a drink and talked for a couple hours. A week and a half later or so he came back into the city for Sunday brunch. We went to Farmicia and it was delicious. We hung out in my house later and played with my cats. I think he might be allergic to them, to be honest, but he said that he wasn't. After he left, I texted him about me being awkward or something and he responded with "no, you're perfect." (Awww.) Then he came into the city last night for the third time! We went to the Standard Tap in No Libs ... I had an amazing burger, we each had a couple beers. Conversation is easy with him. We have similar tastes. I don't really know what's different about him in comparison to the other dozen guys I met off of match.com (my profile on there is officially deleted, btw), but we seem to click. I was looking for something in the others and was getting pretty fed up with it all, but this guy is nice and so we will see. It's funny how that happens. On Sunday afternoon, I'm going out to Phoenixville (via bus) to go to a beer festival/goat race at the Sly Fox Brewery. I'm excited.

In other news:

1. I still dislike eHarmony. Frankly, it is too much work. I can't keep up with it - and am not really talking to anyone from there. I still have a subscription for almost 2 months though, so eh.

2. Broad St is Sunday. I averaged a 10:40 mile last year, but I actually ran five 10 min miles and five 12 min miles (approximately). I'm hoping to average a 10:30 pace this year and actually keep something around that pace for all 10 miles. The improvement in time might be slight, but improvement in performance would be pretty significant.

3. I've officially started strength training again and am going back to yoga starting Friday. I love to run, but JUST running is not doing a whole lot of anything to my body (but I'm sure that my heart is awesome). I even went to spinning yesterday. I think I might start doing that once a week too.

4. I think there are something like 36 more days of school and 6 Mondays left. We are going on a field trip next week to the Camden Aquarium, and I am pretty excited. I don't think that many (if any) of our kids have been there before! And thanks to a target field trip grant, it's only costing them $2!!

Why I Run

I was reading a magazine in the park on Sunday, and there were some articles written by different women entitled "Why I Run." Each of them had different reasons for running, but all of them agreed that running made them a better person. While reading these, I was inspired to write my own piece called, "Why I Run," and I am "publishing" it here.

I believe in the runner's high, and I believe that those who are passionate about running are the ones who experience it to the fullest degree possible. To me, the runner's high is a sensational reaction to a great run! It's an exhilarating feeling of satisfaction and achievement. It's like being on top of the world, and truthfully... there's nothing else quite like it!
- Sasha Azevedo

Some people run for exercise, to lose weight and be healthy, but they hate every single step. Some people run to escape: from themselves, from their families, from crappy circumstances. Some people run because they love feeling the wind on their face and the burn in their legs after the first 4 or 5 miles.

When I try to think about why I run, I have a hard time coming up with a solid answer. I started running for exercise. It started as a casual thing. I exercised (and still do) primarily to prevent heart disease. My father died of heart disease, which means it runs in my family, and it is the number one killer for women. It is also completely preventable. I may not be able to prevent cancer, but I decided early on that I most certainly would not die of heart disease.

So I exercised, went to the gym, ran 2 or 3 or 4 miles outside, but I needed some motivation - a goal that I could work towards. When a friend started talking about running a race, I let myself get roped into running a 1/2 marathon. I figured that was the farthest distance I would ever want to run, and all I wanted to do was to finish it. I did all of my training by myself, and I did finish it, in 27 degree weather, in a respectable 2 hours 27 minutes. In my first race, I had a respectable pace of about 11:19 per mile. I was proud of myself, but I also was really sick and tired of running. So, I stopped running for a few months, starting up again to run the Broad St Run last May. Everyone told me how much fun it was to run it, so I signed up. This time, I ran some of my runs with my sister, and I didn't hate it all quite so much. I enjoyed the feeling running gave me, the sense of accomplishment I had when I was done running. I liked running races and having a goal to work for. I liked running, but I still did not love it.

I ran casually on the treadmill and outside during the winter, not really enjoying it because treadmills are miserable and so is freezing cold weather. Then, in January, I joined a running MeetUp group. I started running more than ever- about 20 miles a week. I loved running with others, found myself running farther and faster, and loved getting up (even on the weekends!) to go for the runs. I love running. Something clicked in the past few months, and now I honestly love running. So much so that I am probably going to train for the Philadelphia Marathon in November. A marathon! I never thought that I would run a marathon, that I would want to run one.

But as it turns out, I love the way I feel, how it makes me look, how much healthier my heart and cholesterol is (!), the high that I can get when I get that extra burst of energy in the middle of the run, when I feel as if I could run to China and back, and I love the calm and clarity I get when I'm done. I feel accomplished, and I love that you can always push to run farther or faster - it is (almost) impossible to reach a point where you can't keep improving. I don't run to escape myself or my life. I am very satisfied with both. I run to gain clarity, to be healthy, to push myself. It's becoming one of my passions. Running makes me a better person: physically, emotionally, and mentally.

That's why I run.

Spring

I just absolutely love spring. I love everything about it: sitting in the park, running in the warm weather, having to start wearing sunscreen, new flowers, green grass, buds on trees, leaves on trees, warm breezes. I just love it. For example, yesterday, I went to a bar crawl that benefited a bunch of charities. It was called the Bunny Hop. It was nice out, so people were spilling onto the sidewalks out of the bars. I went with a girl I met through my running group and a friend of hers. We had a really nice time, had 4 or 5 beers and dinner. I went home by 10:30 (started at 5:30!), but it was so nice out. Got to wear bunny ears. This is one of the reasons I love spring.

Partly due to the warm weather and partly due to the running group I joined (http://www.meetup.com/Run-like-a-Philly-Girl/), I have been running a lot lately! This week, I have already run 17 miles, and I am also running on Sunday. Last week, I ran 18 miles. The week before that, I ran 20 miles. I am getting faster, running farther, recovering from longer runs far more quickly. And I am thinking about training for the Philadelphia Marathon in November. Actually, as long as I have girls from my running group willing to train with me, I'm 90% sure that I'll do it. Broad St first week in May, ODDyssey half marathon the last week in May, and the full in November. Looks like this is going to be the year, folks.

Despite the recent rain, my self esteem issues, and overall gloomy disposition, the weather (and the fact that I had off work for the past few days really helped my mood. Part of my issue, according to my roommate, is that I am "serial dating." This is what match.com does to you. You meet all of these nice guys, but none of them are quite right for you. Nothing is really wrong with them, and nothing is certainly wrong with you, but since none of them are "the one", if you even believe in that sort of thing, it gets to you. After awhile, you meet so many guys, that they all sort of blend together and you get tired of meeting guy after guy. I guess I don't really know what I'm looking for - but I'm pretty sure that I'll know when I find it. I'm not looking for my husband, but I want to spend time getting to know and dating someone who I have all of those different types of chemistry with. I get that you don't always know that on the first date, but I think that by the second or third date, you do. Does anyone disagree?

Regardless of all that, the sun came out and I decided to press on. So, I met a guy for lunch on Thursday. We ate at a table outside at Moriarty's. Nice guy. Beautiful day. Volunteered for two years in Micronesia with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. He taught high school there. He hates running but likes to bike. I hate biking but like to run. (Sounds like a match made in heaven, right?) He is graduating soon with an MS in Counseling, but he doesn't really have any idea what he wants to do when he graduates. I appreciate the fact that he is keeping his options open, but 27 is a little too old to just be hanging out waiting for life to happen. It certainly is not a deal breaker, and I liked him enough to go out with him again. Actually, I liked him more than most of the guys that I have met so far. It's a little intriguing - the fact that is totally calm and comfortable with the fact that in a month in a half, he has no idea what he will be doing. We each had two beers, and when I left and was trying to go look at an apartment - I found myself seriously tipsy.

I am moving (on June 1st)! I submitted my rental application and go Tuesday to give him my first month's rent!! I found a studio apartment on Spruce St between 15th and 16th for $775, which includes heat. I really like it! I looked at some other places in the past few days, mostly because I had off which made it really easy to schedule appointments. I like this one the most, and it's a good deal that will be snatched up quickly, so I took it! It's in my price range, which is great and in a fabulous location. It's pretty big, and they are redoing the kitchen and bathroom, which is awesome. There is a closet with built in shelves, hard wood floors.... I'm happy! It's actually the building that my sister's ex-gf just moved into. I double and triple checked with her that it wasn't weird that I was moving there, and she is totally cool with it. It makes it easy on my sister - that way she will be able to visit me and her kitties (who are living with the ex-gf) at the same time!! I'm excited to move into my own place right in Center City. I don't have that much stuff to begin with, so it's not a big deal that it's a smaller space. I'll post some pictures when I take them.

Tomorrow, Jess and I are going to Cape May on an adventure! I have never been there before, and I am pretty excited. On the agenda is stopping to buy a camera on the way! :)

Running and Resolutions

One of my New Years Resolutions was to start eating healthy, with the benefit of that to be some weight loss. I am happy to report that as of yesterday, I am down 10 pounds!! (Some of it was certainly just holiday pudge, but it is still 10!) Plus, I am finally below a certain number that was haunting me! I would like to lose nine more pounds.

I joined a running group over the winter and have been doing quite a few runs with them. Last week, I ran 20 miles, and this week I will have run 18 after tomorrow. I'm getting faster running with this group, which is totally amazing. I have been wanting to get faster, but I have a hard time forcing myself to run above my most comfortable speed. I am running Broad St in May, and then I think I will run this half marathon in Philly at the end of May. I am playing around with the idea of training for a marathon, but I'm not sure how I feel about it.

On the school front: We had 31 parents out of 53 students come to pick up their kid's report card. That is actually a pretty good turnout. They should be announcing Renaissance Schools on Monday.

Dates: I met a guy at Monk's on Wednesday. He was nice enough, but he misrepresented himself in pictures and laughed at the service learning project my kid's want to do. It really bothered me! Plus, he lives in Conshohocken which is kind of far away. I don't think that I will go out with him again. I had another date last night. We had dinner at the Continental. Really nice guy, easy conversation. I wasn't particularly attracted or not-attracted to him. He also does not live in the city, but there was nothing that stood out that I didn't like. He does karate, which is cool. I guess I am looking for some spark that I haven't found yet.

Chemistry from the beginning is important to me, and in all of my past relationships it was something that brought us together from the beginning. (Clearly they did not work out, but still). Chemistry is more than just on the physical level though, too. There needs to be more than just a conversation going on - I'm not really sure how to put into words what I mean, but when you are talking/meeting/having dinner with someone - there is physical chemistry, but also there is chemistry in the way you interact, what types of things you talk about. You have to click. And I havent really found that with the people I've met on match.

I think that people should be with a person that makes them the best versions of themselves, and I have never found that. Of the guys I have dated, even the ones that I really liked, I have always compromised some important part of myself or changed (slightly, not drastically) something about myself. Whether it's the way someone treated me, or the amount of alcohol I drank, or safe sex ... I'm all for compromising in relationships, but if you don't help me be the best version of myself, then I shouldn't be with you. And that goes both ways. I think that if there is the physical/emotional/intellectual chemistry, then helping each other be the best they can should come naturally. It certainly isn't something you can force.

Dating update

Here is a quick recap on recent events:

1. Went out on 3 dates with the Pharmaceuticals guy. On the third date, we went to Dave and Busters. I didn't have as good of a time as I hoped that I would. We didn't talk after that, but it was mutual. I didn't contact him, and he didn't contact me. Ultimately, he was nice - but we didn't completely click, and I don't want to date someone who doesn't drink at all.

2. Went on two dates with the guy who works in the casino. We went to Bar Ferdinand for our second date. He is a nice guy, but I am just not physically attracted to him. We had tentative plans set to go out again on Thursday, but I am just not feeling him - so I just texted him to let him know that I am not interested. Nice guy, but no dice.

3. The Drexel med student isn't working out. He had exams for two weeks, then we tried to meet up the Saturday of St. Patrick's Day - but it just wasn't meant to be. haha. I totally don't believe in that, but we weren't able to meet up. Then, he was home all last week for spring break. He said he'd call when he got back, but I don't think that will happen. Honestly, if we can't go on a second date within a month of the first date, it probably won't work out.

4. I randomly joined eHarmony today. I am kind of sick of match.com and my suscription runs out soon. I found a good $19.95 promo online so I went with it. I will let you know what I think.

5. I am meeting a few more guys from match this week. What do you want to bet that I like one of them since I just spent more money on eharmony? :) I have plans to go to the Continental on Friday and possible plans on Saturday to meet someone for a drink.

St. Patrick's Day!

Katie and Brooke came to visit two weekends ago, the 13th and 14th of March. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day Philly style with our own personal version of the Erin Express. Not deterred by pouring rain, we got decked out in our kelly green and went to an empty New Wave for brunch. We then headed to Moriarty's to drink bud light in a green bottle with Becca and friends. After that, we ran across the street to Irish Pub, where we spent approximately the next 4 hours. We had a really good time there, so our original plans to hit up Erin Express bars were postponed (maybe next year).

Becca's boyfriend, Brandon, and some of his friends were pounding the Irish Car Bombs, but we decided to stick with just one. After a couple hours, we got out our Irish temporary tattoos and went to town. The pot of gold on my foot took about 4 days to scrub off!

We left Irish Pub to go to Mad Mex in University City around 6 - shortly after Katie's phone broke in two, literally. We had dinner there, and then we headed to my sister's - her and Candie were having a little party. Some people didn't show up due to the rain, but it was a nice little turn out anyway.

Sunday morning, Katie, Brooke, and I had brunch at Sabrinas and walked around the Italian Market before they headed back home. It was a great weekend! :)

Birthday Party!

My birthday party was a ton of fun! My friend Liz came up from Baltimore and at one point, I counted 25 people in my apartment!

For starters, I wore an adorable outfit. We had an amazing taco bar that was a big hit, and people brought lots of Mexican themed fun snacks like guacamole, black bean dip, tortilla chips, etc. We had lots of booze - various Mexican beers, bud light (thanks to Becca), sangria with fruit and brandy (thanks to Megan and Mike), and margaritas (thanks to C, H, and H!) I, of course, partook in all of the various alcoholic beverages. After awhile, we had two lively games of Apples to Apples going on (one in each room), and I think everyone had a lot of fun!

I was definitely tipsy/drunk and having a great time, and everyone started leaving around 12:30-1:00. Around that time, Megan mentioned going to a bar to meet her friend from work. I decided that this would be a fantastic idea, despite my sister and Liz trying to convince me not to go (taking back their initial enthusiasm). Well, it was my birthday, so off we went. We took a cab all the way to 16th or 17th and got a beer when we got there.

This is what I remember: talking to Megan's friend, falling off of a bar stool. That's all. We came home not long after arriving, and I went to the bathroom (where I threw up). Keep in mind that I do not remember this. The next day, I woke up - not feeling too terrible - and promptly went back to sleep. We went to Sabrina's for brunch, and after that, I felt totally fine. So fine, that I went for a run later that evening.

That cute sweater I'm wearing in the picture? It's missing. I have absolutely no idea what happened to it. My skirt was in the bathroom. My tank top in my hamper. I thought that maybe I left it in the bar, but my much more sober sister told me that I did not even take my coat off there. It's the mystery of the evening. If it turns up at any of your homes, please comment and let me know.

A few more pictures from the evening:

Dates and Updates

So I went out with the guy from the northeast again last Tuesday night. He normally works on Tuesdays, but he switched around his schedules. We went to Bar Ferdinand and got a yummy cheese plate, a meat plate, some calamari and dessert. He was cuter than I remembered him being, and I had a good time with him - it was very comfortable conversation, etc... but I'm just not really sure how much spark there is there for me. He is in Puerto Rico this week, and he called me yesterday to see how I was doing, etc... which was really nice. I'm going to go out with him one more time and see how it goes. He is in school, and he also works a lot. I think he has off Friday nights but works every Saturday. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I dated someone for about 9 months who worked the complete opposite of me, and it can be really draining on a relationship after awhile.

I've had some contact with the Med Student. I had a really nice time with him, and he said he was going to call sometime yesterday/today. I got an email yesterday saying that he had tried to call and would call back today, but I never had a missed call. He texted me this morning to wish me a happy birthday and said he would call. He hasn't yet, but there is still time. He just finished his mid term exams (as a second year med student he is quite busy), but his birthday was a couple weeks ago... so he said about doing something for our birthdays. I hope we do get together, because I have been on like 6 dates (3 different guys) since I met him 2 1/2 weeks ago, but I'm still going back to wanting to get to know him better and such. I haven't forgotten about him yet and am still quite interested, so that must be a good sign. I like that he emailed to say that he called (and he had emailed over the weekend to say that he texted, but I didn't get that one either).... we shall see.

Today is my birthday! I had a special birthday lunch and a birthday dinner today, plus a birthday nap, a birthday cupcake, birthday balloons ... and I had a fun party on Saturday. I have friends coming into town this weekend to continue celebrating and am going to the Fridays After 5 thing at the art museum with some friends this Friday to celebrate too! I am such a lucky girl!! (Celebrating is a little exhausting though ... and not so good for losing weight!!)

I'll update with pics and stories from Saturday when I can.

Preview: Awesome party, 2nd tequila shot was a bad decision, bar at 1:30AM was a bad decision, but didn't feel so bad on Sunday as a result of the effects of the bad decision! Oh, and the cab driver gave me a bottle of water on the way home from the bar I shouldn't have gone to. And I managed to lose my cardigan, but not my coat or phone or purse.

3rd date

I went on my third date with the crepes guy on Monday.

I went in with expectations that were maybe a little too high. We went to Dave and Busters, and we had a good time - but he wouldn't play DDR with me. It made me sad. I also suggested Guitar Hero, and he didn't want to play that either. We played plenty of other games, and he didn't make fun of me when I was bad at basketball - but I think that I wanted him to. (is that weird?)

He is really nice, and I have a nice time with him - but I feel like we haven't gotten to know the quirky sides of each other, so it's not completely real. You may be thinking: but it is only the third date. But it's already the third date. I do like him, and I'm attracted to him - so we'll just have to see if there will be a fourth. If he asks, I will go and see how it goes. I think that a fourth date will have to be a little more intimate (ie. dinner and movie at my house or his house or something).

Also, he doesn't drink. I don't want that to be a deal breaker, but I like to drink beer and drink wine with dinner. I'm not sure I want to date someone where I have to be embarrassed that I don't remember walking home on Saturday - or that won't have wine with me at a BYO or a beer at happy hour.

I guess we will have to see. He has a friend in town this week. I was considering asking him to come to my birthday party - but I didn't. I don't know.

Pre-Birthday Celebrations

On Saturday, Meg P came to visit me in Philly for round 1 of the birthday celebrations. As soon as she got here, she locked her keys in the car at the parking garage. It was a new car, and she didn't realize that it locks automatically or something. We waited maybe 20 minutes for AAA, and the guy was able to jimmy it open pretty easily.

We then went to the grocery store and bought lots of food to make some yummy thai/indian/some type of curry. My sister and my friend Sarah both came over for dinner, and it was delicious!! I was a little stressed near the beginning because I was cooking curry - which I never done before ... and I managaed to spill coconut milk all over the stove (which my roommate said looked like baby puke), but it turned out great. Not too curry actually, because there were so many vegetables and should have been twice as much coconut milk, etc - but that's alright. There's always next time.

I drank a lot of wine with dinner. Woo. Then we went out to Sugar Mom's for a fancy can of PBR (woodchuck for megp) and had a photo shoot in the bumper cars.


We met up with my friend Megan and her boyfriend Mike at Sugar Mom's around 11 and after awhile we headed over to National Mechanics for a little dancing. I only had 3 beers out, but the wine I had with dinner really went to my head. I had a good time at National Mechanics dancing and what not.



After we left National Mechanics, Meg, my sister, and I went to the South St Diner, which is now open 24 hours. It's a little blurry after that, but I remember that I got the hiccups and we apparently walked my sister to her car and then went home. I woke up the next day and had shut the cats in the room with me. I almost always shut them out of the room. Not sure what I was thinking. Oh wait, the wine was thinking. I was passed out, but Meg said the cats walked over her a bit.

We woke up around 10 the next morning. I wasn't hung over - but I was still completely exhausted. Meg wanted a cheesesteak, which I ate and it promptly made me feel ill. Don't worry, I went to the gym anyway. Bad idea. It was a rough two miles, let me tell you. But I finished it anyway.