oops

Tonight's run was going great. I did my first mile in 11 and a half minutes, which is 30 seconds quicker than average. After the 2nd mile I took a few blocks to walk. I had barely started back up again when I got distracted by looking at my phone to change the song that was playing. Before I knew it I was face down on the sidewalk. Ugh. I ended up with a lot less skin on my knees and some blood running down my leg. Fun. I ended up in the bathroom of a fast food chain trying to clean it up. Needless to say, I didn't get to finish the 3rd mile. Very disappointed.
Picture 1 is from before the fall, running along the Charles looking towards Cambridge.
Picture 2 is after the fall, obviously.

on the move

It's official....I'm moving. Not very far, just out of the city that I currently live in. One city over actually. It's a long story why it's happening, well, kind of. Not for blogging really. If you are reading this and have never lived in a large (and incredibly expensive) city, you won't be able to wrap your head around what moving here involves. Being from a not big city/very cheap place to live originally, it still blows my mind a bit. For example, I have a realtor. No, I"m not looking to buy, just rent. Yes, a realtor is almost a must. He emailed me with a place that hit the market yesterday with the first available showing today at 10. It was under priced and getting a LOT of attention. We showed up at 9:45 and the people with their realtors began appearing. It was crazy and we were actually laughing about the ridiculousness of it all. When talking to him last night he said that we might need to be ready to offer more than the rent. UGH. Once we got in there I decided that it wasn't for me, but was a great steal. I have another one in the works and had my phone "pre-screening interview" tonight. Wow. This is truly crazy.

In the last 3 nights I have run 9 miles (3 miles each night). Still seems crazy that I actually did it. I almost didn't go tonight, but after dinner I just felt too guilty. I talked myself into just doing 2 and a 1/2, but once I got there I had to get to 3. Seemed silly not to.
The first picture is from last night and the last 2 are from tonight.

New dinner experiment tonight. I got eggplant at the farmer's market today and needed to figure out what to do with it. I"m still not eating gluten and am vegan for the most part. The exception tonight was egg. I was going to make a chia "egg" but went with the real thing. I cut the eggplant into thin slices, dipped it in egg, then cornmeal, then into a hot pan with a touch of olive oil. Here it is served over black lentils with diced tomatoes and fresh basil. Pretty yummy!

3 miles in 36 mins. That was my early evening run tonight. Again, not speedy but feels good that I went that far. My 3 miles ended at the grocery store where I got a HUGE watermelon. I have been making myself eat it all summer trying to like it and I think it worked. So the 5ish block walk home included carrying an 10 extra lbs. Workout bonus!

Tonight's run was 2.5 miles and took 31.41 minutes. While I'm not breaking any speed records, I am running the whole distance.This photo is when I was going through the Public Garden crossing the swan pond. A bit busy with tourists, but still pretty.

Go!

Sport: Running Start Time: Aug 7, 2012 6:42 PM Distance: 4.00 miles Duration: 54m:35s Avg Speed: 13:38 min/mi Max Speed: 9:12 min/mi Calories: 350 cal The app on my phone keeps track of all of this and on the connected website shows my route. I tried to get that on here, but it wasn't working. It was basically down to the river, past the Esplanade (the photo is looking across the Charles to Cambridge), through Beacon Hill, the Boston Common and Public Garden.

Diapers, diapers, and more diapers

There had been rumors about an anonymous diaper donation coming to Cradles to Crayons. Then nothing more was said. I was told that if/when it happened it would be huge. They were right! A few hundred thousand diapers huge. I was able to score 60 cases for the families that are in our program. While that sounds like a lot, it doesn't last long. But we were SUPER excited and extremely grateful. Yes, I fit ALL 60 cases into my car!

Thanks to some new music on my phone I am happy (?) to say that I am back to running. Over the last 2 days I have logged 4 miles. That doesn't count the mile and a half a few days ago and then 2 and a 1/2 that I walked today with a client. I took this photo during the run yesterday. Overcast but nice and cool. Perfect.

I mentioned FoMu in a previous post. Lisa and I went again last night. These are the flavors. ALL DAIRY FREE! They even had vegan sprinkles and gluten free cones! Sounds crazy but it is the best ice cream I have EVER had.

p.s. just realized after posting that you can't actually read any of the flavors. But there are a lot!

Birthday part 2

Saturday I celebrated my birthday with Kim and Meg. I spent the day cooking and they came over for dinner. This is the pesto I made with basil from the backyard, pistachios instead of pine nuts and without dairy to make it vegan. It was awesome! I put it over quinoa corn pasta (gluten free) and mixed in some asparagus and fresh corn. YUM! I also made vegan/raw/gluten free chocolate tarts. They turned out SO WELL. The photo does not do them justice.

After an awesome dinner we went to a show at the Improv Asylum. Lots of laughing. It was a great show.

To celebrate my birthday some friends and I went to Teranga. It is a Senegalese restaurant and was AMAZING! So many choices for vegans! The photo is what I had. Veggies in a tomato-based sauce with rice. We also had fried plantains that were super yummy.

Afterward we headed to FoMu for ice cream. It was delicious, dairy/gluten free, locally made and without refined sugar. No really, it was INCREDIBLE! Some of the best ice cream I have ever had. It was an awesome day followed by hanging out with a friend on Sunday. Birthday part two will take place this coming weekend!

Today Kim and I returned to Rockport for another day of kayaking. The weather was perfect. We worked a LOT harder this time. Totally expecting to be sore tomorrow. Totally worth it. This picture is of the harbor.

I've been a vegetarian for quite some time. I don't remember ever being that much of a fan of red meat. Starting in high school I experimented back and forth with giving up various meat products. Red meat was the first to go. I rarely ate it and even less frequently cooked it. Then there was the very last day. I still remember it. I had made a hamburger in the George Forman grill (remember those things!) and rinsed it off but didn't scrub it. When I returned home after a long opera rehearsal I walked into an apartment that stunk of red meat. That was it. Done. From then on I would eat chicken out sometimes, but rarely cook it. Then it dwindled down to the rare piece of fish. The last creature from the sea that I ate (well, attempted to but couldn't) was a lobster in Maine. It was on the plate staring back at me. Yes, it was dead but it appeared to be watching me! And that day I said good-bye to seafood. While in Nicaragua I ate WAY to much dairy and wheat/gluten. Basically bread/tortillas and yogurt at an attempt to calm my furious digestive system. Since being back I have made yet another dietary change: gluten and dairy free. Not sure if I will stick with it, but I am for now and it's going well. There are plenty of other options. Coincidentally the NY Times had an article about cow's milk last Sunday (we really aren't made to have it). Check it out HERE. Tonight I tried the above product for the first time. Mac and cheese that is made from brown rice pasta and dairy free "cheese." While it isn't your typical, it's pretty good and I feel good about eating it. I'm currently reading Fair Food. It's basically about how messed up our food system is. If you didn't realize that, you need to read this NOW! Also a recent read (highly recommend, it will blow your mind), The End of Food.