Beat the Bridge

I signed up to run the Beat the Bridge 8k (4.97 mi) a couple months ago. The race is sponsored by Nordstrom and benefits JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) which funds research to cure, treat, and prevent type 1 diabetes. I had all intentions to be in shape and train for the run, but the truth is I don't think I've put on my running shoes since I did the St. Pat's Dash back in March, whoops. Fortunately Sarah was in the same boat, so we agreed to run to the bridge (2 miles into the race) so that we could beat it, then walk the rest of the way.

We met early in the morning and made our way down to the north parking lot down by UW stadium, close to where the race would start on Montlake. Colleen had taken the bus over (smart idea, traffic was gross) and met us there as well. We also ran into Anne and Clayton, so we all got in line together in one of the waves to start the race.

The horn sounded, and we took off in the last wave. The 20 minutes started as soon as the last person crossed the start line, and the countdown to the bridge raising was on. Anne, Clayton, and Colleen went out ahead of us, as Sarah and I kept up our slower pace behind. I thought we'd be fine. We'd have to average better than a 10 minute mile to make it to the bridge in time. As we rounded the corner to the University Bridge, the bell alarm was sounding and the arms were lowering. We sprinted to it as people ducked under the arm to make it across, but we were too late...by 10 seconds. TV camera crews were out taping everyone as we waited for about 5 minutes for the bridge to raise, then come back down so we could finish the race. The bridge reopened, and Sarah and I jogged across (didn't wanna get caught walking on TV), before walking the rest of the way.

As we continued on the route, we noticed that the 4 mile walk course came right up next to ours. We decided to switch over so that we didn't look so out of place walking. We thought we were so sneaky. We then detoured to head back to the car, then realized we had to cross the finish to return our timing chips or we'd be fined the $30. So, our scheme back fired. Our "shortcut" to the parking lot put us right back on our original course. We finished the race, got our medals, and were then herded into the post race festivities. It was super crowded, so Sarah and I left right away once we realized our friends hadn't stuck around either.

We didn't beat the bridge, our plan to cheat didn't work out, and getting out of the parking lot took almost as long as it did to finish the race...but I still had a fun time. Plus, it was all for a good cause! Maybe I'll beat you next year, bridge.

French Provincial

I've never considered myself much of a girly girl, and don't think my style reflects one either. When I started thinking about decorating my new bedroom, I was envisioning a more neutral look that both a guy and a girl would be comfortable with. I thought I wanted an upholstered headboard, and part of me still does, but I didn't want to pay a bunch of money for one. My mom suggested that we make one, so I went online and found this pretty cool tutorial on how to make your own. I headed to Craigslist to see if I could find a wooden headboard to use as the base, and that's when I came across one that looked perfect. It was a French Provincial style with some gold detailing, but I liked the shape of it so it would work great for covering with batting then fabric for the look I wanted. When I went to pick it up, I started to think I might like it just the way it is. With a little paint, it could look really cool. The seller also let me know that he just opened a furniture store and that he had a matching dresser in mint condition for sale that I might be interested in.

I took the headboard home and decided that maybe I would like the delicate girly style of French Provincial furniture. This may be the last bedroom I have all to myself and don't have to share with a guy, so why not make it girly? I told my mom I was interested in buying the matching dresser, so she stopped by the furniture store on her way home from work. She took measurements and sent me a picture, and I was sold. She packed the dresser in the back of her car and brought it over to me the next night (told you she is a rockstar...and looks like I will always be indebted to her).

some missing wood buttons, will have to stop
by Michael's to see if they have some to glue on

dresser with my great-grandma's old rotary phone

white formica top which is in great condition

So now I have a fun project ahead of me...painting! I'm still debating on if I want to do a fun color (that I might just get sick of) or stick with something more simple like white or gray.

I'm also now on the hunt for some nightstands, maybe a chair, and a full length mirror. I'll be keeping my eye out on Craigslist, and maybe do some consignment store shopping over the weekend. This is definitely the fun part about moving!

My new bed

...is absolutely amazing.

This Saturday, which was a beautiful 75º, Clint and I decided to go bed shopping...indoors. It's okay though, I have been looking forward to buying a new bed since I moved. It is the one thing I knew I wanted to invest in for a few reasons. (1) my queen size taco bed is unacceptable, (2) it just might help with my bad back issues, and (3) as Clint puts it, you spend a third of your life in bed, so why not throw down a couple grand and improve your quality of life.

So, we set out on the bed hunt, hit up 3 different stores, and tried out about 30 different beds (you'd be surprised how tiring laying down on beds all day can be!). We ended up at Sleep Country USA (why buy a mattress anywhere else?) and fell in love with the Simmons Beautyrest NXG bed. It's a hybrid of a memory foam mattress and one with coils, so for me it was the best of both worlds. Memory foam is excellent for joint and pain issues, but I just couldn't get used to the quicksand sinking feeling of TempurPedic beds. The NXG bed springs you back up as you roll over, but has the same squishy feeling. Beautyrest beds are also known for their pocketed coil technology which allows one person to move all around while the other doesn't even feel it, so it passes the glass of wine and bowling ball test (we all know how often I have both of those in bed with me).

After they priced it out for me, I decided to go home and think about it, and do some research. The next day (the day I convinced Mom to go furniture shopping with me) I checked out mattresses again at Macy's. They quoted me a cheaper price for the bed, so I then took that to Sleep Country. They were able to not only match the price, but beat it by 5%! That, along with same day delivery, a 20 year warranty, and discount for multiple items (I bought some pillows and a mattress cover too), the new price was hard to walk away from.

A few hours later, my new bed arrived! They were also able to take away my queen size box spring that made it up to the main level, but the stairs were too tight to get it to the bedroom...so it had been sitting in my living room since I moved in.

The past couple of nights have been heaven. The bed is ginormous and feels like I'm sleeping on a rainbow. I look forward to bed time now even more than before!

Still need a bed frame, headboard, and bedding,
but it's here!

Happy Mother's Day

I may lovingly call her Mommie Dearest from time to time, but in no way would I actually compare my mother to Joan Crawford (although, my closet is wire hangar free). I feel very lucky to have such a great mom, and cherish the relationship that we have. We talk everyday (sometimes multiple times) and get together at least once a week. She's the first person I tell my news to, good or bad, and I love having her just a short drive or phone call away.

Mom is not only there when I need her, but she can do anything...literally. She's been such a big help as I've been moving into my new home and getting everything settled. Broken sink drain stopper? Fixed. Gouge in the wall from moving? Fixed. Clogged bathtubs? Fixed. Let's see, she's also lent me her vacuum (and then bought me my own), gave me a hose for the back yard, brought over her weed eater so I could tame the jungle growing in the back, bought plastic to cover my carpeted stairs while I moved, collected moving boxes, offered her SUV for not only moving day but picking up furniture from Ikea and Craigslist sellers, and so many other countless acts of kindness.

Mother's Day this year was quite different than years past. I'm not exactly sure how I pulled it off, but instead of subjecting me to slave labor helping her around the house and yard with an endless list of chores, I somehow got her to come to my house, buy me a gift (the brand new fancy vacuum), and take me furniture shopping. It didn't stop there though. Once we got back with the new furniture from Ikea, she even helped me assemble my new bed frame. How awesome is that? I didn't even have to follow through with my empty threat from last year - have a baby just so that we can celebrate me on Mother's Day.

It wasn't exactly all about me though. I did make her a handmade card and baked a batch of lemon bars (one of her favorites) for the very first time. I was skeptical after seeing what they looked like when they came out of the oven, but after covering them up with powdered sugar and cutting them into squares, they actually didn't look half bad. They were even edible! I know my time is coming though, and I owe my mom a lot...like maybe even two days of slave labor, yikes. But hey, for my mom? Anything.

I'd also like to acknowledge my two grandmothers who I just recently lost within a week of each other. I hadn't mentioned my grandma Dorothy (my dad's mom) who peacefully passed away in her sleep on May 5th. She was 94 years old and living in an assisted care facility down in Aberdeen. Her health was slowly deteriorating, and her memory was getting worse, but she was happy. I last visited her in September where she was laughing at her own stories, and even let me know that she wanted to live till she was 100. I'm glad to have that last memory with her. Both ladies were not only amazing mothers, but have taught me so much and have shown me the kind of person I want to be. Grandma Dorothy taught me my manners and how to be a lady (see how well she did?) while Grandma Marlene taught me it's okay to make a mess of the chocolate ice cream, just do it with class.

Mothers truly are the best! Thank you Mom, for everything.

Neon Dirty Thirty Birthday

May 11th marks the trifecta birthday of my friends Henry, Matt Swett, and Jenkins. I met them all in college, and since I can remember they have been celebrating together. This year the day not only fell on a Friday, but it was the big 3-0 for both Henry and Swett. They decided to do it up big and rent out the bar Sport and have a hundred of their closest friends take over the place. This group happens to be fond of theme parties, so we were told to break out the neon and mustaches (real or fake).

headed to the party, glow in the dark style

Henry's brother Big Shim offered up the "SkyLounge" room in his condo building for a prefunk before heading to the bar. This gave us a chance to show off our outfits, and don some neon flare that Henry generously handed out.

party favors from Henry

Me, Anne, and creepy looking Louis

Me and Becker. He's a little sleepy, or maybe
it's the double fisting

Around 10pm we all headed over to Sport to meet up with the rest of the party goers. It was a blast, and fun to see so many people all dressed up. Even Char and Ko made it out from Lynnwood. I hadn't seen them in forever, so it was nice to catch up for a bit.

Me and Char

So neon we're glowing!

take two

Gina's back from Cali!

Henry and the ladies

Happy Birthday boys, thanks for the great party!

Birthday boys - Henry, Jenkins, and Swett

Birchbox

I received my first Birchbox in the mail yesterday! Birchbox is something that Colleen discovered and told me about, and now a few of us girls have signed up for the service. For $10 a month (with free shipping), they deliver a box to your doorstep with 5 sample beauty products. The samples are different each time, and are based off of a quick survey you fill out on their website when you first register. This sounded perfect for me as I don't know much about what products to buy, so now I can try them out first. If you like the sample, you can go online and buy the full size version (again, with free shipping).

In my first box I received a headband, nail polish, makeup brush cleanser, tinted moisturizer, and some perfume, plus a little bonus XOXO notecard since the theme this month was Gossip Girl.

I love getting packages in the mail, especially when what's inside is a surprise! It'll be fun to try out my new stuff and excited to see what next month brings.

And for you guys out there...they now have Birchbox for Men.

Goodbye Trisha Roo

We had finally gotten our friend Trisha to come back to Seattle for what seemed like good (after a stint in Korea, then Australia), to only find out she's leaving us once again to follow her job to San Diego. Trisha has always been such a fun and loyal friend who is always up for a challenge, and I know she will do great on this new adventure.

To give her a proper goodbye, Sarah graciously hosted us at her and Taylor's new home in Renton, which is so adorable. Sarah has done an amazing job furnishing and decorating (will you please do mine now?). Being seis de mayo, we made it a fiesta. Sarah prepared a delicious taco bar with all the fixings. I also decided to make a 7 layer dip to bring with me, and we did what us cow omega's do best...grazed around the kitchen.

7 layers of yum

taco bar

check out those cute taco holders!

After we ate, we gifted Trisha with a photo book with pictures of us all with her through the years, along with a little message from each of us. It turned out really well (props to Sarah for organizing that) and even made our little Roo tear up. Now she'll have a keepsake to remember us by in San Diego, and can even share it with her kids someday...okay, more like hide it from, not sure you want all those pictures getting out!

Rachel had brought a piñata to celebrate, so we took that across the street to the playground to give it a whack. We brought along a broom and tied it up to the monkey bars. Rachelle had also made the trip up to join us from Portland, so her family had been enjoying the sunny day while we had our girl time. They then came and joined us for the piñata festivities.

Coleman up first

piñatas and heels

good job Roo

dangerous spot, Coleman

yay candy!

sweet baby Camryn asleep in Kyle's arms

the moms couldn't get enough of the baby

the girls...minus Kylee and plus Coleman

We will sure miss you, Trisha, but can't wait to come visit!