Weekend Update

Taking pictures of each meal got a little old, so I stopped yesterday. I didn't stop eating (mostly) Paleo though.

Saturday morning I made an egg scramble with onions, mushrooms, and the jalapeno habanero sausage. And finished off the OJ. :( I went to my first Crossfit session that morning and came home and had an orange and a handful of nuts. A little later I made myself a salad with the leftover taco meat and the gross guacamole, thinking it would be disguised in a salad. Not so much. Picked out the meat mostly. It was such an amazing day (70s in SF in February!), I ditched the cleaning and work I had planned for a day in GGP with my love. We split a bottle of wine my aunts sent me for my birthday and snacked on broccoli, celery, carrots and fresh guac. We had dinner at a pub where I had a burger with bacon (sans bun) and a side salad. And another glass of wine. We ended up an hour early for our movie, so we ducked into the Wine Jar where I had a taste flight of three chards. I then promptly fell asleep for half of The King's Speech. Nothing to do with the movie, everything to do with the 4.5 glasses of wine I drank, mostly in the sun. So while not 100% Paleo, still had no gluten and no dairy.

Today, after fitful sleep and vowing to never drink 4.5 glasses of wine again, we tried a small diner for breakfast. I had a meat lover's omelet, with eggs, bacon, sausage, ham and a little bit of cheddar. It was good and very filling, perfect for my second Crossfit session. I am so tired after that session, that I've barely been able to manage an orange and a hard boiled egg. My body is soooo tired. I get two days off before my next session on Wednesday morning. Then I graduate to the real classes! Tonight for dinner I'm making Thai red curry, using a variation of this recipe. I'll either go without rice or try to mix in an extra veggie and create cauliflower rice.

Not a perfect weekend (Paleo-wise, it's been an awesome, relaxing, wonderful weekend life-wise), but certainly better than any weekend in the past and, besides the wine and little bit of cheese this morning, 100% Paleo. I found I didn't even really want a taste of G's french fries last night at dinner or potatoes this morning at breakfast. I know they will tasted good but make my stomach grumble all day. Not worth it.

Back to napping I go... the closet clean out is being postponed one more weekend I guess.

Good Times with the Smithskis and KK Turns 30

Back in June Kathy decided what she wanted to do for her 30th birthday - a simple party in the park where we could play childhood games and relax with good friends. So we booked a few picnic tables in Golden Gate Park and waited for the weekend to arrive. I mentioned the party to Lauren and Stu, who found out a few weeks before the big day that a friend was driving up to SF the weekend of the party. Lucky me - a great friend's birthday and some of my favorite people in town on the same weekend. :)

Lauren and Stu arrived Friday night, and brought Mini KK along with them. We left her at home and headed out for dinner at Kennedy's Irish Pub (for Indian food, of course) and met up with a friend of theirs from law school on Union. They got to suffer through a truly Marina evening and know understand me on a whole new level. I never get to cook for anyone, so I invited them over for breakfast on Saturday morning and we made breakfast tacos. They were edible and possibly even good. We set off for the party, figuring Muni was the easiest way to transfer a life-size pinata.  

We had so much fun hanging out at the park together. Despite the frigid temperatures and bad wind, we managed to have an egg toss and a pinata beating. 

Happy 30th KK! I love you and am so thankful for your friendship.

The Mandas

On May 8th Julie and Jamie became The Mandas in a lovely ceremony at the Sir Francis Drake in downtown San Francisco. It was a wonderful evening filled with many special J and J moments, from the Florida State football references during the ceremony to home made cakes in all the best flavors.

Happy Couple

Ridiculous - both the cake and the view

Can't imagine life without these women!

The Relay

The first weekend of May, we set out with 2 vans, 11 co-workers, 36 race legs, 48 pb&j sandwiches, 60 gatorades, and 200 miles of road for The Relay. Team Slalom finished the Calistoga to Santa Cruz adventure in 29 hours and 42 minutes. More importantly, we're all still co-workers and employees!

Team Slalom

Van One!

Meeting Dean Karnazes! (Close to as exciting as meeting Phil and Harry was back in '01.)

Can't seem to leave work behind for the weekend.

Running along the highway in Calistoga.

Mission Peak Hike

Kicking off Half Dome training with a hike at Mission Peak in the East Bay. 5.6 miles out and back, with a 2000 feet elevation change. Ouch! 

Date Night!

Saturday night was date night with Kathy. We are on a roll of getting out of our neighborhoods and went all. the. way. to Noe Valley (only in SF is 4 miles a journey). We started the night at Fattoush, an amazing, cozy Middle Eastern restaurant on Church Street. The food (appetizer sampler, freshly baked pita bread, beriani with chicken, potatoes and garbanzo beans) was amazing. Unfortunately the only dish I took a picture of was the one thing we didn't exactly love - a ground lamb filled doughy thing (technical term) with date sauce. It was a sweet and savory mix gone awry, but doesn't it look pretty? We found the place here. I highly recommend joining the mailing list for your city, if available. The great deals are fun, but even better is reading about restaurants you'd never come across otherwise.


We saw the J run past the restaurant a few times and decided instead of taking the same route we used to get to Noe Valley we'd jump on the J and see where it took us. We're crazy girls like that. We ended getting off in the Castro, where an urge for ice cream hit me hard. I decided I wouldn't look for ice cream, but if a sign appeared, it was meant to be. As we moved from the Castro to the Lower Haight in search of a bus to get us back to Yuppyville, I literally almost ran into a sign screaming "Organic Ice Cream". Not really sure it could have been more meant to be. I have no idea why Kathy turned right as I snapped her picture (to point at the sign I had determined was our sign to stop and eat), but the resulting photo is hilarious.

Next up was finding a way home. It was 10:00, AKA the time at which I turn into a pumpkin. We decided to walk off our ice cream a bit only to realize we were walking straight into the ghetto. We are independent women, but we're not dumb. So we rerouted ourselves and walked towards a different bus line. We ended up at the bus stop only to turn around and find the KK Cafe. Kathy had actually read about it (I'm convinced she now googles her initials to find places) and claims it has the best vegetarian burger in SF. We've got a location for our next date night! 

Chronicle Wine Festival

The San Francisco Chronicle hosts a wine competition each year and follows it with a tasting event a few weeks later where wineries can show off any awards they may have won. I've gone three of the four years I've lived in the city, this year being the third. Julie, Jamie, Vanessa and I enjoyed an afternoon of wine, baguette, and little cheeses and chocolates. (J, V, and I started the day with a killer 12 mile run through the Presidio so we could enjoy the snacks guilt-free all afternoon.) We also learned a few things: Target box wine is not so bad (though we did try it 10 minutes before the event closed, so perhaps our judgement is not to be trusted) and Livermore has wine tasting right off the BART line. It was a great time and an excellent way to enjoy the last day before my dry month (New Year's goal) started.

Me, Vanessa, Julie

FYI - Vanessa does indeed have two legs, unlike the picture above would lead you to believe.

19 Miles

My motivation (a.k.a., my friend Julie) was out of town this weekend when the marathon schedule called for 19 miles. I procrastinated all of Saturday and Sunday and was left with no choice but to run on Monday. About three minutes in I had a great idea. I had my phone with me for music, why not document my run? I decided on a few rules (because I'm Type A and that's just how we do it): I would take one picture every ten minutes (plus or minus thirty seconds) and it could be of anything within a 360 degree view of where I was running at that point.

Not only did I finish my run and actually really enjoy it, as much as one can enjoy 3 hours and 22 minutes of running, I also unexpectedly found myself in the middle of two lessons. The first was patience. There were a few really neat pictures I wanted to capture, but the point was not to take cool pictures, it was to motivate myself ten minutes, or one mile, at a time. Secondly, I learned to let go of some insecurity. I started out looking like a runner - water belt, hand held gatorade bottle, dry fit clothing, etc. But there I was every ten minutes looking like a tourist, jumping up on park benches or crouching down to get the best angle. People looked at me funny, but after the first few miles I learned to smile and be on my way.

Below are 20 pictures (a 10:30 pace allowed for one extra shot!). They are not very good, but a nice way to capture all the training I've been doing for the past three months.

One: Me

Two: Waters of Aquatic Park

Three: Was supposed to be Pier 39/Aquarium of the Bay

Four: Downtown, Transamerica Pyramid

Five: Bay Bridge

Six: AT&T Park

Seven: Ferry Building Clock Tower

Eight: Hmm...something on Fisherman's Wharf?

Nine: Alioto's - Yet another 'SF-Must Do' I have yet to do

Ten: Fort Mason

Eleven: Yacht Club

Twelve: Golden Gate Bridge

Thirteen: The ground (running up a Presidio hill, didn't much care about the quality of the picture)

Fourteen: On the bridge!

Fifteen: Crossing into Marin

Sixteen: Trying, and failing, to be artsy on the bridge.

Seventeen: Crissy Field, from the Presidio

Eighteen: The GGB again, but this time running away from it!

Nineteen: Kind of funny, this was supposed to be my car that I happened to run past. Completely missed it in the shot.

Twenty: HOME!

Valentine's Day Weekend

What a fun weekend! To kick it off, I got home from work Friday night and found in the mail my first letter from Jyotirmoy, my little sponsored boy from India. He's only four, so not quite able to write his own letter, but along with the letter written by one of the staff he sent me this. How can a Valentine's weekend that starts with a flower from a four-year-old half a world away not be good one? I am not sure what the rules are on posting pictures of the children, so I think I should hold off for now, but imagine a cute little Indian four year old boy who loves to play 'bat ball' and tell rhymes. I really am only using this blog as a way to capture memories, but if anyone is reading and looking for a good organization to get involved with, click here.

Friday night I got to spend time with the Texas branch of the Collins family who were in town for a wedding on the Piper side of the family. It was so much fun to visit with Nicole and Brandon, Jeff and Julia, and Aunt Karen and Uncle Tim. It was also great to meet some of the Pipers I've heard about for years! Definitely a fun group and made me again so thankful to be from a big family. We had a few glasses of wine at the Blue Mermaid in Fisherman's Wharf then headed to meet the Rehearsal Dinner party at Buena Vista for an Irish Coffee. One more think on the 'Must-Do: San Francisco' list that I can now check off. It seems I only get these things done when out-of-towners are around.

Me and Julia (hoping she becomes a cousin soon!)

Julia, Me, Aunt Karen at Buena Vista with our Irish Coffees

Saturday night Kathy and I ventured back to our Kathy-and-Beth roots - Berkeley! We went to see Mortified at the Starry Plough. It is a  show where people read excerpts from their junior high, high school, and college journals to the crowd. It was absolutely hilarious and mortifying. I don't think there is anything that could get me to revisit those years. The teenage philosophy and inner-reflection was by far the best part. So was the realization that I am the dork I have always thought I was and I am quite thankful for the apparently sheltered life I enjoyed. The best non-intentionally funny part of the evening was when one of the presenters read a comment about some girls at her high school and referred to them as probable lesbians - the crowd had been laughing for an hour and went silent. Lesbian jokes are not appreciated in the East Bay! I forgot to get a picture of Kathy and I, but it was a fun date night and nice to get out of the city for a few hours.

On Sunday Alyssa, Adam and I went to St. Anthony's for the day. Alyssa is who introduced me to the Dining Room back in early 2009, so it was great to finally go with her. It was very slow (not a bad thing!) so we got to catch up and it was great to spend time with Adam and get to know him better.

One of the best Valentine's weekends I can remember! ♥

Kaiser Half 2010

Me, Vanessa, Julie, Megan

The girls and I did the Kaiser Half Marathon for the second year in a row this past Sunday. It is always held on the morning of Super Bowl Sunday. Perfect - we get our 1300 calorie burn out of the way by 11am and are ready for and well-deserving of the afternoon food coma!

We did things a little differently this year and only got to the race 1/2 an hour early. (This is Alyssa, Julie and Vanessa last year when we arrived pre-dawn.) While we definitely missed Alyssa out on the course this year, we did not follow her 6:50 am departure time! Sadly we are getting to be old ladies and despite not arriving at the crack of dawn, we all chose to crash after the race instead of heading out for the Super Bowl. Oh well - I thoroughly enjoyed watching it from my couch and alternating between napping and eating my much-anticipated burrito.

The half is a beautiful course that starts in Golden Gate Park, heads up and around the Panhandle, back through the park, out onto the Great Highway, and then back into the park to finish.

I can't finish this post without bragging about what awesome women I am friends with. Vanessa is my new running hero - she ran the coveted sub-2 hour half-marathon on Saturday. Not only did she break 2 hours for the first time, she killed it with 1:56:12!! And Julie cut 11 minutes off her time from last year - that's pretty

much an extra mile's worth of time! Kathy completed the 5k for the second year and, deciding 3 miles just wasn't enough, walked home from the park to make it an even 10 (this is another sign that she absolutely has it to join us next year for the half!).

I didn't break any records at this race (2:08:44 - definitely happy to keep breaking 10 min miles, but 1:30 slower than last year). However, I was the big winner of the day with the lowest bib number - 133 out of 10,000! Maybe this makes me the big loser?