Decompressing with Busy-ness

Introducing my character in Death By Chocolate, the play I'm acting in for most of February and March:

Georgia Gore!

She's a rather unfortunately named food critic, and I wouldn't wish her fate on anyone. Dun dun dunnn! Rehearsals have been going well so far - I haven't needed to be in very many, which is good considering the rehearsal space is about 30 minutes away without traffic (so, an hour away - one way - with traffic).

Other than those rehearsals, I also went to choir rehearsal, a voice lesson, a 6 hour choir retreat, and last but not least I co-hosted a Dinner Detective show.

I had to unwind a bit...

Since my friend Chelsey's birthday is on New Year's Eve, I was invited to come out with some of her girlfriends and celebrate her day of birth, just a few weeks late :)! You may remember Chelsey from last summer when we ran at 5:15 in the morning, and Larissa from the Bellingham Bay Half Marathon!

I'm so glad I had time to visit with this group of fantastic girls! I definitely need to make more time to hang out with fantastic people such as these ladies, because I certainly don't do it enough.

I also hung out with JW and my sister-in-law Rachel to watch The Imitation Game, which was fantastic. I'm trying to watch all the Oscar nominees before they air on February 22nd!

And can we please talk about THE SEAHAWKS???

YAAAS!! I thought it would take a miracle during the whole game, but what do you know!! They pulled it off!

And, finally, last week's summary of runs:

January 12th: 3 Miles, 9'28" average pace - partly sunny, 50°. Started too fast at 8'55" and slowed down almost a full minute in the second mile, then finished the third mile at 9'41". Felt pretty bleh before I ran - but of course, felt much better after I ran.

January 13th: 4 Miles, 9'48" average pace - sunny, 43°. Sun!!! Felt SO good during this run in the sun! Though it was colder (it was 33 that morning), I didn't mind it that much. My first mile was the fastest at 9'27" and then I slowed progressively (to 10'12"), and then back to 9'30" for the last mile.

January 15th: 4 Miles, 10'39" average pace - partly sunny (sunrise), 36°. So cold! So early! I did this run at 8am (so, no real fuel either) and ran on my most difficult route, with over 138ft in elevation changes. Started downhill (per usual) at 9'43" and just got slower and slower, til I bottomed out at 11'24". Yikes.

January 16th: 7 Miles, 10'05" average pace - partly sunny, 50° . Very pleased with this long run pace, compared to last week's long run pace of almost exactly a minute slower! I started fast but ended faster, which is what I always want to strive for. I was the slowest during the 6th mile at 10'36" but that's as slow as I got. Yippee!

January 17th: 2 Miles, 11'09" average pace - cloudy (before the sunrise), 40°. I didn't get enough sleep the night before, and I ran this at 7:40am, my earliest run in a while. I felt a little sick throughout the whole thing, and was happy when it was finished.

Total miles for January 11th-17th: 20 miles, 10% higher than the previous week.

I didn't make it out to run with the Seattle Green Lake Running Group, but that's because I had to move my long run to Friday- so, maybe this next week I'll be able to make it out??

I was pretty busy last week, but I don't think I would have it any other way - in a weird way, it helps me relax! Hopefully everybody else's week is off to a good start.

Being Social

All of last week really just ran away from me (hah!). Since last Sunday's 1 Mile run with JW, running couldn't have been farther from my mind. I've been tracking down RSVPs, communicating with my photographer about which prints to order from my bridal portraits, creating programs, communicating with the caterer, creating the guest book, and trying not to lose it in the process.

Candy has helped!

Being really social lately has helped with the stress. On Thursday we went on a double date with a girl from Dinner Detective and her new fiancé (we went to their engagement party last Saturday night). Congratulations, Lauren!

JW, me, Lauren, and Alex - from last Saturday

On Friday we went to go see A Room With A View at The 5th Avenue Theatre with dinner beforehand and drinks afterward.

JW and Aaron

Chelsey and me

Saturday, we went to go see our friends' new corgi puppy Tesla, complete with delicious dinner, drinks, and dessert!

Meet Tesla!

Tiny corgi puppy!!

That's not all - yesterday, on Sunday, after church we went to our friend's house for an Afternoon Easter Party, and ended the night with another double date with friends! Whew!

Even Tesla was invited!

Lovely views on this beautiful Easter Sunday!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! As for exercise, I will detail that (along with my 2 mile run from last week to total 3 miles for the week!) in my next post!

Amanda's Ceremony and Reception

Saturday evening, April 5, began with Amanda's wedding ceremony, at 5pm in the LBJ Pavilion of the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort. It was a little chilly, but I wore JW's coat and was comfortable!

The beautiful bride entering the pavilion

A sweet moment during the ceremony

Married!!

The wedding ceremony was immediately followed by a cocktail hour, where guests could mingle with various champagne drinks (one was a mimosa, one was a basil & pineapple champagne drink, and one was a pomegranate mimosa - all delicious!) or they could choose to go back to their room and freshen up. JW and I partook in about 15 minutes of the cocktail hour and headed back to our room to warm up - though I had JW's coat, it was still a little chilly!

An hour after the ceremony ended, the reception started in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt. We loved that it was inside :)

Party favors (chocolate) and menus

Gorgeous ceiling decorations

Centerpiece and table decorations

Posing with the married couple!

Sarah, Philippa, and myself at the reception

We're getting married in less than month, y'all!

The Bride and Groom Cakes

Cutting the cake

Then, the most awesome part of the reception happened - the bride and groom's first official dance together. It was choreographed! I thought this was SO cool. They were so coordinated and happy and I could just feel the love everywhere :)

Bride & Groom's first dance

The male wedding party members dancing for the bride and groom

All the wedding party and family dancing for the bride and groom

Exit with sparklers!

We had a GREAT time, stayed until well past midnight, and danced the night away! It was a wonderful way to end our trip in Austin, and I wish Amanda and Anand all the best in the next chapter of their happy life together :)

Amanda's Rehearsal Dinner

Friday evening began with Amanda's rehearsal dinner, held in the Pavilion of the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort.

JW and I

I got suckered into getting some henna :)

Sarah and I waiting to bless the bride to be

Old Roommates!

The bride's beautiful henna on her feet

Friday evening then ended at Barbarella, a bar in Downtown Austin!

:P

Out at Barbarella!

JW's old roommate Kevin and Trang, who are getting married in October!

Fun times :)

<3

Next up: Amanda's Wedding Ceremony & Reception!

PNB's The Nutcracker and White Elephant

This weekend has absolutely flown by... I can't believe it's Monday already!

South Beach Day 7 (Saturday) was a doozy. I was running around ALL. DAY. And it was also a day where we had predetermined that we were going to have to cheat some.

The morning started off pretty good, with 2 eggs. Only 2 because that's how much we had left, haha!

Then I left around 8:15 to go pick up my friends to drive to Carnation, WA for the Sweater Dash 5K with my friends Carrie and Sam. Recap is here!

I only had a few sips of this cider..

We got in the car and it took FOREVER to get back, and we hadn't had anything to eat. I had brought my chili with me to eat later, so I was fine- but we stopped at Whole Foods so they could eat. They brought me back a Non Fat Mocha (sooo sweet of them!), which I had about half of. It was sooooo good. No picture, of course.

After we dropped off Carrie, we drove to Sam's apartment to get ready for the Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of The Nutcracker. I was so stoked!! I ate my chili in a hurry while Sam was in the shower.

Old picture, but you get the gist.

We finally got ready around 1:45 and met JW and Aaron to walk over to McCaw Hall. We were cutting it pretty close - the ballet started at 2 and we left Sam's apartment around 1:50. Thankfully she lives RIGHT next to it.

Sam looking super cute in her hat!!

The boys

Thankfully we made it with about 5 minutes to spare before the ballet started!

Check out the little kid behind us, haha!

The first act was WONDERFUL. I loved it and I have to admit that I cried during Snow, at the end of the first act. The music is just so epic! Also I performed in The Nutcracker for 13 years in a row, from when I was 5 til I was 18, in my ballet studio's annual production. I never missed a year!

1994, on the far left! As a Gingerbread.

2005, as the Governess

2006, Snow Corps

During intermission, we took some pictures by the huge Christmas tree.

A nice formal picture by the tree...

Followed by silly ballet poses on the mock stage!

Awesome sculptures in the lobby

Then we sat down to enjoy the rest of the ballet. After it ended, I had to rush home and get ready for Snowflake Lane, so as soon as the curtain fell I was out of there. I was practically running to my car! There were street closures everywhere and I was really worried I would be late to Snowflake Lane. Thankfully, I wasn't! I even had enough time to quickly make a celery-hummus-laughing cow cheese snack.

Snowflake Lane went fine, as usual, so afterwards I booked it out of there and got caught behind all the holiday shoppers walking down the sidewalk - but finally pushed through so I could run to my apartment complex to get to my car, to drive back to Seattle for our White Elephant party. I arrived around 8:15.

The food options were sooo soo so wrong for South Beach, but I had to eat something because I was starving. I had a pumpkin maple cookie, two snickerdoodle cookies, a dark chocolate meringue cookie, a gingerbread cookie, some brownies... you name it, I probably ate it. I didn't have anything to drink, though, so that's good at least??

The Xmas spread (stupid camera, being blurry..)

One of the not-so-terrible gifts - a bacon kit!

"A Geek's Guide to Controlling the Universe"

And then... my gift. YEP.

Then everyone held up their gift and we took a picture. There are some questionable gifts in there, but I won't name any of them.

Silly picture!

Aaron and I got nostalgic for ballet (he used to dance, too) and decided to try the fish pose - seen here by professionals:

And our attempts:

Got it! Not as pretty, but hey, whatever.

We stayed and talked for a while, and left around 11. I had a great time - I was just exhausted from the day's activities!

My stomach really didn't feel great for the rest of the night, and neither did JW's - but thankfully it was only a few hours and one meal of bad eating and not a whole day's worth. Plus, I ran the 5K that morning so at least I worked out??

How many holiday parties have you been to this year?