Archive for April, 2012
An Anniversary Weekend
This weekend was our wedding anniversary celebration weekend. As Justin said, in true Addy fashion, I can drag a celebration out over several days! Today is our actual anniversary, but we (I) tried to celebrate all weekend long. We started off at Pete’s A Pizza on Friday night and split the sorbillo pie while also both eating slices of pizza. We got dessert to go, this is the first time I really tried the desserts there.
First I had this:
Salted Caramel Panna Cotta
Then I photographed this:
chocolate cream cheese bite, pecan tart and oatmeal butterscotch cookie
I only tried the cream cheese bite, Justin ate the other two. They were good, but nothing amazing. The pizza is really the reason to eat at Pete’s.
After debating what to do on Saturday for a little celebration, we landed on a trip to the local nursery (not babies! trees and plants). Justin has been wanting to buy a new tree for the terrace.
We saw a sage tree that was the most beautiful shade of green with little purple flowers. I was also admiring the hydrangea once again, but ultimately we left there with a tree that I have no idea what the name of is right now, but it looks similar to a Japanese Maple tree.
can you see Justin?
Since we walked to the nursery, we had to walk home (about 3 blocks) with the tree. I offered to carry it for like 2 minutes, but wanted to hand it back over as soon as possible. All I can remember right now is that the name of the tree has Pixie in it, so her name will forever be Pixie.
our newest addition
Saturday night we went to dinner at Le Chat Noir in our neighborhood for some seriously tasty french food and champagne.
We had a lovely dinner filled with red wine, crepes, veal, lamb cheeks and topped off with some chocolate mousse and ice cream with espresso sauce. A perfect way to celebrate our wedding, one year later!
On Sunday, I had my first two games of the softball season. My team had a doubleheader and it was a beautiful morning for some softball. I am the former captain of the team, but gave it up this year due to a lot of weekend travel and no energy for trying to recruit players week to week. We didn’t win either game, but I had some solid plays (and some major errors) throughout both games. It was really nice just to get back out there! After my game, I went for a run even with an extremely tight hamstring and busted out 3 miles.
I think I need to take a few days (like a week or more) off from running, my hamstring has been tight since the half marathon and even a quick sport massage on Saturday didn’t help!
Sunday night, My sister and nephew took us out to dinner. My brother in law was out of town and couldn’t join us, unfortunately. We went to the newest Rosa Mexicano in our neighborhood. I was psyched for the guacamole and margaritas, but was reminded again that their entrees are just so/so. It was really worth it for the guac and churros for dessert and so fun to go out to dinner with Tracy and Max for our anniversary!
Here is Justin giving Max a ride home after dinner. He had so much practice with carrying the tree, carrying a 6 year old was a breeze…
We’ve had a very low key actual anniversary, but I think we wore ourselves out with so much food over the weekend. It’s nice to have a chill Monday night. I’m off to try to our wedding cupcake that my mom saved for us to eat today. I’ll keep you posted on how it tastes!
Addy
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Thursday Things
I have a near empty tin of Altoids in my office drawer and today I took out the paper that lines the tin and this is what it had on it:
I literally laughed out loud and then proceeded to try to make it into a dunce cap like it says. And then I gave up. I’m still holding onto the paper just in case I have a hamster that starts acting up…or truth be told it’s not unheard of to have mice running around these parts…
I checked out the new place Boqueria near Dupont on Tuesday evening. It is a Spanish tapas restaurant and I love places like this (Estadio is also another fave). I studied abroad in Spain and tried to eat as much cheese and jamon as I could while I was there. My most favorite Spanish tapas dish of all time is the patatas bravas. First, I love potatoes and when those potatoes are fried with a spicy/garlic sauce all over them, it is quite possibly the most special combination I’ve ever met.
In Barcelona, there is this place called Bar Tomás.
They have the best patatas bravas that I’ve ever eaten.
Bar Tomás Goodness
No restaurant in D.C. has even come close to comparing to these, but I will continue to order them each time I go and channel Bar Tomás!
Back to Boqueria for a moment, I am really glad I tried it. The sangria was really tasty. I also order the croquettes and of course the patatas bravas. I look forward to going back to sample more of their cheese selection and a few of the other small plates.
A friend of mine, Hunter, has produced and directed several films and his latest is Where the Yellowstone Goes.
I’ve been waiting for updates of when it’ll be shown on the East coast. It has three upcoming screenings in CA, MT and CO. Hopefully it’ll be coming East soon! If you are in D.C. look for updates here on when it will be in town.
I am going to try to get a run in tonight after work. I did a 3 mile run on Tuesday and hoping to tackle that or a little more tonight. The sun is starting to come out right now – so hopefully that stays around for the next few hours!
Addy
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Blah, Ramble, Blah Blah
Are you ready for a rambling post? Good, so am I.
Today is Take Your Kids (Daughters) to Work Day. When did it become all kids instead of just daughters? Can’t a girl have a day with her parents to boost her self-esteem? Anyway, I saw two little girls on the metro this morning with their Dad. The youngest one was wearing a t-shirt that said, Take Your Daughter to Work, and they were both beaming. Their excitement was just radiating off of them. The metro conductor was a colorful one this morning and at one stop he mentioned that 24 doors would be opening to the platform. The girls eyes popped at the idea of 24 doors on the train! I hope they have a great day with their Dad at work. (This whole interaction made me teary-eyed…on the metro…at 8:30am…who am I?)
I’ve been kind of a slacker lately when it comes to my “healthy lifestyle.” I don’t know what it is but I just don’t feel very motivated. I’ve slept through my GET UP AND WORKOUT alarm twice this week. This is a pretty sad excuse but I blame the fact that the fitness studio at my gym has been closed since Wednesday while they re-do the floors. It’s totally thrown off my workout schedule because I’ve been relying heavily on their class schedule to keep me motivated. No Wednesday morning VIDA Rx? No Stephanie getting out of bed to work out. Sigh. I did manage to make it to the gym this morning for spin and totally loved the instructor…and at the end of class she announced it was her last day. Life, you’re so funny sometimes. I felt really great coming out of class though and was super sweaty and remembered how nice it is to get up in the morning and start my day with a workout. The instructor played the best songs this morning too including my current favorite – So Good by B.o.B.
I Heart Sweat at 6am.
It’s raining today and I walked to work with a HUGE golf umbrella that actually says PGA Tour on it. I’m such a huge huge golfer. Oh wait, it’s actually the opposite of that. I do own golf clubs and I do enjoy the driving range but I’ve never played more than 8 holes. I am good with the woods (TWSS) and the putting but am so bad with the irons, which is essentially the majority of the game. I say this every spring/summer but I’m going to get out there and play more this season. Ha. Ha. Ha.
I’ve purchased three dresses from Ann Taylor in the last week and a half. They are all for work and were super on sale. Score!
The Way We Were and Funny Girl were on TV the other night in honor of Barbra Streisand’s birthday. I love both of those movies and Barbra Streisand.
My meals this week have kind of been great and kind of sub-par at the same time. I went out for pizza on Monday (great!) and had eggs for dinner on Tuesday (sub-par). I forgot my lunch at home yesterday (sub-par) but went out for sushi last night (great!). Get it together!
Remember that mason jar salad? Here is it being all wild on my plate. Annie's Lite Gingerly Dressing, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, edamame, shrimp and lettuce. I forgot my second ever mason jar salad at home on Wed. Go me.
The birthday girl likes beer and pizza 🙂 (Meredith, hope you're reading AND approve of this!)
Made the best out of my forgotten lunch situation. I bought a turkey sandwich from the cafeteria and got some extra veggies from the salad bar to load it up - whole wheat bread, dijon mustard, turkey, lettuce, tomato, red onions, cucumber, spinach and green peppers. Pear on the side, YUM!
Stephanie
Monday’s workout: Rest
Monday’s meals highlight: Pi Pizza
Tuesday’s workout: Zumba
Tuesday’s meals highlight: Um…
Wednesday’s workout: 60 minute walk
Wednesday’s meals highlight: Sushi
The Weekend
Hydrangeas are some of my fave flowers. The ladies in our wedding carried them along with hyacinth in their bouquets. I’ve been admiring the brightly colored hydrangeas at Whole Foods every time I walk by. I never want to buy them because I worry I won’t actually be able to keep them alive. So I’ll continue to admire (every day) when I go to WF.
I made chai spice muffins this weekend, I mentioned that I wanted to make these back in December, but never got my act together. I made them for a co-worker’s bday who is also as much of a chai lover as me. I think they turned out pretty well. I thought they were a little too dense and dry, but everybody that tasted them seemed to enjoy them, I assume they were telling the truth!
I got in the car to drive to the gym this weekend (yes I drive even thought it’s down the street, it was pouring)! And this is what the odometer read.
It’s really hard to tell from this pic, but it was at 123456. I thought it was so fun!
Speaking of the car, Justin and I woke up bright and early Saturday morning to visit the D.C. Emissions Inspection station. The place opens at 7:00 am. We got there at about 6:30 and we were lucky enough to be able to scoot to the front of the line that is typically reserved for commercial vehicles. I was psyched particularly because I was anxious about getting home in time to make it TRX with Stephanie!
Inspection station fun!
We are quickly approaching our 1 year anniversary next week and I’m really looking forward to celebrating the day (throughout the weekend)!
We had cupcakes for our wedding dessert:
I had not planned on saving one to eat the next year per tradition, but my mom took one home and froze it. The cupcake found it’s way back to us last week. Justin has no desire to try to the thawed out cupcake, I’ll give it a shot and see what it tastes like, but I think what we should do is just order another dozen of these to eat!!
Addy
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Class Review: TRX and April Fitness Goals Check-In
On Saturday morning I finally gave TRX a try after hearing Addy speak so glowingly about it. And I have to say…I loved it! First of Addy’s gym is super nice and it was fun to workout in a different spot. Something about it just felt so energizing. Second, the instructor was great! The class was just about full and Addy introduced me to the instructor in the beginning of class. I felt like she made some good eye contact with me during class because I was the only new person in the room. I love that type of connection.
The class went by so quickly! I think I was really concentrating on how to hold the straps and if I was doing the moves correctly because I had never done it before, but the time really flew by. There was a good mix of music (though I would have liked it to be a bit louder throughout class). We did a sequence of moves and started out by doing them slowly and then sped up our reps. After learning the moves we did the entire sequence again at the end and I liked that because I felt more confident and like I was pushing myself a bit more.
One thing that I didn’t like was when the straps rubbed against my arms during one portion of class. It was painful and my arms were all red. But clearly, I made it through 😉
The class was focused on strength training but we did get a little bit of cardio in with some mountain climbers and dynamic lunges. The ab portion was short but oh man did I feel it! Overall, I really love the class and totally understand why Addy enjoys it so much. I wish my gym didn’t charge extra for it (at my gym, TRX is a small group program) so I could do it more often. I hope Addy is ready for a regular gym guest 🙂
So…let’s check in on my April Fitness Goals for this past week. The week got off to a slow start fitness-wise. I didn’t work out Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. What can I say? Sometimes a girl just needs a few days off. But I think I did a pretty good job of making up for it the rest of the week. I managed to get in a lot of great strength training this week but lacked on the cardio.
Monday – Rest
Tuesday – Rest
Wednesday – Strength training, 2x cardio
Thursday – Cardio
Friday – Strength training
Saturday – Strength training
Sunday – Cardio
Maybe this upcoming week will be my best yet! I’ve also decided to continue this fitness challenge through May. I found the triathlon training program I want to use and it is only 11 weeks long (much shorter than the 20 week program I had initially wanted to do). A little over two months feels like the perfect amount of time to get in shape for the triathlon and I really liked the swim workouts associated with this plan. So May will be more of me utilizing the great classes at my gym and getting 5x cardio/3x strength in per week.
Stephanie
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Weekend Happenings
Stephanie
Friday’s workout: Bar Method + 60 minute walk
Friday’s meals highlights: Fro-yo for dinner
Saturday’s workout: TRX
Saturday’s meals highlight: Oysters, oysters, oysters
Sunday’s workout: Zumba
Sunday’s meals highlight: Thai food
A Friday List.
1. I have been having a love affair with Twitter lately. I know, I am soooo late to the party. But in my defense, I’ve actually been on Twitter for awhile but haven’t really felt like I was in a good groove until the past couple of weeks. You know you want to follow me – @stephcherkezian
2. I had vanilla cinnamon coffee this morning and it was SO good.
3. I went to a 6:15 a.m. Bar Method class this morning. It was free and awesome. I felt more positive the moment I walked in the door of the studio. Unfortunately, I am extremely out of Bar Method shape an am lucky I got my leg up on the barre during the stretching portion. It made me sad to think about how much more flexible I was earlier in the year when I went regularly. I really do love Bar Method. I need to figure out a way to get it back into my workout routine without breaking the bank or taking up triathlon training time in the next couple of months. I will make it happen! I secretly dream about being a Bar Method instructor and living in Lululemon gear all day day. Sigh.
4. I’m listening to some Levon Helm and The Band this morning. I never would have known who Levon was if my ex-boyfriend hadn’t told me about him. His music makes me want to sit around a campfire with friends, drinking beers and enjoying a summer night. Note to self: do that this summer.
5. I am currently bidding on a Barbour jacket on Ebay. Fingers crossed it worked out.
6. I am attending two “fests” this weekend. A beer & oyster fest and a beer & food truck fest. What do both of those fests have in common you ask? BEER. I’m carbo-loading for next week’s workweek.
7. I got my 4th Birchbox earlier this week and honestly, I think I’m kind of over it. I actually don’t like new products as much as I thought I did. I’m overwhelmed with the idea of trying out all these new products. I’m really such a plain beauty girl compared to all the other women out there and I think I should just own that and keep my current routine. I’m considering putting a bunch of the samples together for a fun giveaway. I also need to cancel my membership so they stop charging me $10/month.
8. I have eaten a very large amount of lemon drops this week. My Dad keeps sending them to me because he knows I love them but I have absolutely NO restraint when it comes to them. I demolished the bag he gave me a few months ago in two weeks and I’m currently halfway through the first of two packages he sent me on Tuesday. Nothing like some pure sugar to keep me going.
9. I am FINALLY trying TRX tomorrow with Addy. So excited and so nervous at the same time.
10. I desperately need a haircut but don’t feel like paying for one.
Stephanie
P.S. There may or may not be a Fashion Friday post coming this afternoon.
Thursday’s workout: 90 minute walk
Thursday’s meals highlights: Tacos round 2!
Green is Good but So Are Tacos
Sweetgreen salad
Green lunch
Super veggie salad
Best tacos ever...a la me.
Stephanie
Monday’s workout: Rest
Monday’s meals highlight: I don’t even remember what I ate on Monday
Tuesday’s workout: Rest
Tuesday’s meals highlight: Super vegetable filled salad for lunch
Wednesday’s workout: VIDA Rx + 20 minute challenging treadmill interval workout + 2 rounds of “at home” cardio circuit (I did a morning and an evening workout…not all of this at once!)
Wednesday’s meals highlight: The yummiest tacos ever
100 Days!
Today marks 100 days until the 2012 Summer Olympics in London!
I added the Opening Ceremonies to my Google calendar about a month ago, so I’m already gearing up for it. I love love love the Summer Olympics. I love the Olympics in general – winter or summer, but I look forward to summer more solely because of the swimming. I was a competitive swimmer growing up so have always followed swimmers in the Olympics and beyond.
2008 was obviously a very exciting year with Michael Phelps breaking all kinds of records and winning a record number of gold medals. He’ll be back this year, but Ryan Lochte is out there to give him a good run! Also, I’m really excited by Missy Franklin – a 16 year old from Colorado – who made a name for herself in 2011 at the World Championships and who no doubt will be a force come July!
Not only do I get into the competitiveness of watching the sports, but I love all the sappy back stories NBC runs on featured athletes. Their formula for those stories is perfect and it keeps people watching (especially me) and cheering on a new crowd favorite.
Now if only my job didn’t get in the way, I’d find my way to London to take in some swimming events here for the week!
Go USA!
Addy
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Nationals Game
I went to my first Washington Nationals game of 2012 last night. Stephan Strasburg was pitching last night, so I was excited to watch him. I also learned that the Nationals’ other shining star – Bryce Harper (who is still playing AAA baseball, but is technically on the Nationals roster) and I share a birthday. Which means, yesterday we were both celebrating our half birthdays! Happy half bday Bryce!
We actually got to the game earlier than we normally do and ended up being able to buy a big beer for $5 (they are $5 all the way up to the first pitch, who knew?)!
Strasburg Opening Pitch
I made good on my promise to myself and had a half smoke from Ben’s Chili Bowl with chili and cheese on it.
This is when I remembered to take a photo
I insisted on getting my picture taken with Screech (no, not from Saved by the Bell).
And we watched the President’s race. Teddy did NOT win again…
The Nats beat the Astros and currently sit in first place in the NL East. Keep it up, guys! We already scoped out the seats we want to try for our next Nationals game!
Addy
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