winter

This past long weekend, we had a fab opportunity to hop over to Madrid, Spain.  Flights were cheap, and friends of ours from Baltimore (who now live in Germany) suggested a Turkey Day meetup there awhile back.

So we were like sure, why not??

Madrid totally surprised me. I pretty much had no expectations going in, outside of knowing we were attending a Flamenco show for Thanksgiving Dinner... and that our friends Brian and Sarah would make better tour guides than we ever will.

Travel pals

I'll spare the rambling about the beauty of Madrid and the surrounding countryside (although I easily could write paragraphs about it) because I think I prefer that my travel posts offer more than just describing the trip, and more of the emotional side of it...

We both packed about thirty ten minutes prior to our cab picking us up for the airport on Wednesday night - I literally was just throwing random things into my suitcase and hoping for the best.  Luckily I glanced at the weather and noticed lows there were in the 40's, and that we should probably pull out those things that we haven't had to use here in TLV yet... what are they called again?

Coats.

Sure enough, the weather was crap.  Crap is actually the word I would have used six months ago... but after 3+ straight months of only sun, and temps in the 70's and 80's, I actually really really loved the weather.

Fun fact that most of you probably know but some of you may not - I really adore winter.  Always have, always will.  The snow, the cold that comes with it, the ice.  The bulky clothes, the skiing/sledding/snowball fights, hot chocolate - I could continue this list for days.

So yeah, I'm missing my winter a little bit.  I keep hearing from locals/people who have lived here for awhile - just wait, winter will come and it's going to suck.

Well, it's about to be December 1st and I'm still waiting, because I'm pretty sure I took the dog for a run on the beach in shorts and t-shirt this morning.

So anyways - back to Madrid. I rocked my winter coat and boots most of the trip, and loved every second of it.  The light drizzle and slight chill seemed to add to the enchanted-ness of such a gorgeous city, and the occasional wet toes were easily fixed by a few glasses of sangria.

Never in my life (outside of skiing in Michigan at age 5) have I gone on a vacation intentionally to somewhere colder; it's always been off to the beaches. But I loved every second of cold, dreary Spain, and it made me excited to plan our next cold weather trip, whenever that may be.

OK you probably have better things to do than read about how I tie my emotions to weather. I probably do too.  Have a great hump day!

Cheers - 

Kait

Eating Snow

Things that will not help my lack of motivation to workout: launching off a small cliff while skiing and slamming my full body weight onto my left shoulder.

Hello there whiplash.

I like to pretend that I’m a good skier. Every time I lock into my skis and hit the first few slopes of the day, I immediately start looking for obstacles to challenge myself with; small ramps of snow to go off of, moguls, those hidden trails through the trees.

I’m not that good. I’m reminded of this almost every winter, with a new kind of injury every time.

Andrew is a better skier than me – he demonstrates a little more caution and typically follows a few hundred meters behind me waiting for my ego to get too big and for me to then eat shit snow He comes up from behind, grab my skis that I managed to dismantle, and follows the same series of questions:

- "Are you OK?

- "How did that even happen?"

-"Maybe now you'll calm down a little bit?"

-Laughs, shakes his head, skis away.

(Sigh.)

The shoulder will heel; it already feels a bit better today. Until then, burpees and push-ups will have to wait.

Outside of taking a face full of snow, the weekend was awesome. It dumped snow up in Snowshoe West Virginia the entire weekend we were there; so much so that we had to get Andrew’s car pushed out of the parking spot yesterday on our way out. The weekend was full of fabulous food, (for the most part) great skiing, and really awesome conversation.

Now, it’s Monday. And I have all of these things to look forward to:

love my countdown app 

It’s home to Chicago this weekend for Christmas, and then off to Colorado the following week for New Years. Being gone for 16 days is definitely something I’m pumped for, but not so pumped to pack for. I’m also going to try hard this week to eat the last of what I have in my fridge/freezer, so that nothing goes bad while I’m away.

This should make for some pretty interesting meals. Stay tuned. Hope your 

week is looking fabulous. If it’s not, here’s one last happy countdown for you that hangs in my bedroom:

Cheers –

K

Labor Day 2012.

I’m exceptionally great at throwing pity parties for myself. It’s not something I often brag about.

however I will brag about how badass I look in this picture.

 This weekend was absurd. And when I say absurd, I mean absolutely epic. And when I say epic, I mean that you probably don’t even want to know 75% of the things that were said/done/eaten/drank. Etc., etc., so on and so forth.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from these past few days.  Andrew and I had never been to Bethany Beach before; we booked the house through an online agency. I was placing our fate in some pictures and reviews that I had read online.

Damn I’m good.

I don’t feel the urge to write a novel on the weekend; that’s usually how I feel about weekends that are mind-blowing. I’ll just show you guys some of my favorite pictures; those are worth 1,000 words anyways, right?

 whose that strange girl with the glow-in-the-dark face paint and the shades on, in da club? no idea.

the crib.

clearly, that was my go-to face for the weekend.

And now, we arrive back to where we started. The pity party topic. This morning I dropped my wolf pack back off at BWI and said goodbye (once more) to three friends who I would easily consider sisters. No, I didn’t cry on my drive to work.

surfer girls

beach bums

I’m an incredibly emotional being; much more than your average bear. I’m well aware of this, so is my boyfriend. I can’t mask how I feel, ever, and I’m horrifically bad at acting like I’m OK when I’m not. It’s actually a quality that I like about myself, no joke.

There’s really no moral to this story, no point to this post than to half vent/half work through how I’m feeling, current state. I had a great weekend, with great, great people. I didn’t work out, I made poor life choices that I don’t regret, and I’m now getting sick because of them. I still don’t regret them. I refuse to fall into this cycle that has slowly been evolving over the past few months; being sad and feeling bad for myself, throwing a pity party until I arrive again to a weekend with friends/fun that cheers me up, being happy and then immediately falling off the deep end into sadness shortly after.

getting trolled.

I’m ending that cycle. Because that’s life; it’s always going to be hard, there’s always going to be ups and downs. There’s always going to be periods of sadness and loneliness, yet there will ALWAYS be something to look forward to. No matter what shape or size that may come in. Because as I found myself recently saying to a friend… there’s no joy without trials.

Bethany Beach, Labor Day, 2012.

Last but not least, I didn’t run this weekend... unless you count running into the waves full force, and crashing back onto the beach. I cranked out a sweaty 18 miles before we headed out of town on Friday, and haven’t laced up my shoes since.  I don’t feel bad; the ocean undoubtedly gave me a hard core workout all three days, as my abs are still sore. Not to mention the whip lash. However, I can’t help but point out that part of my sadness is likely due to the lack of running. Because running makes me happy, simply put. So I’m banking on my seven miles tonight for a quick lift of my spirits as well.

Thanks for listening. I can always count on you guys for that.

Cheers!

Monday Funday

I’m not upset that it’s Monday. Not even a little bit.

Want to know why? Because today is one step closer to Friday. And it’s not just my typical Friday, this Friday. It’s the start of Part-I-of-my-summer-vacay-in-Colorado Friday.

in 5 days i will be standing in this creek.

 I’m ecstatic.

This past weekend was what one may have labeled 'touristy'. On Saturday Andrew and I took the opportunity to go down to DC, since it’s a city neither of us have spent tons of time in. We had breakfast in Eastern market, checked out the U.S. history museum, and ate five million calories lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl, a popular, historical restaurant in the area.

Chili Cheese Fries. So good yet equally so bad. I know.

hanging out with the horse at the museum

I also saw this written on the sidewalk, and loved it. Very inspiring.

In preparation for the trip, I have a pretty busy week ahead. On my lunch break today I ran to Trader Joe’s to stock up on some super healthy snacks and produce and in the process picked up two of my favs:

4 cals per nut? yes please.

lunch on my back porch

 I’m also now officially following the training plan that Amanda made for me.  She put together my first week for me based off of a timed two-mile run that I did on the track for her, that I was actually really proud of:

splits were 6:35 & 6:31

Since Friday night we will be flying, and Saturday morning driving up into the mountains, I will be somehow squeezing in my long run Friday morning before work. 14 miles at 5 AM? Can’t wait.

I did 13 miles last night and it was decent. I can officially say that I’m over summer, mind-blowing humidity, and random out-of-nowhere thunderstorms. When I think about fall, cooler temperatures, football and all things pumpkin, I literally become giddy. But that’s a whole different rant, for a whole different day.

Hope you started off your week on the right foot. Any stories to share?

Cheers!