How in the world did it get to be October 24th? I feel so behind on everything...argh. But there is good news. There's always good news. My nephew, Conner, celebrated his 3rd birthday this month with a (Romanian) birthday party - it felt that way since I was the only other Japanese person there - well, besides my brother, and I guess, Conner.
The next good thing is that I get to travel to San Antonio for a grant writing conference where I'll learn lots about free money...I'm trying to be optimistic. To help with cost, I'll be staying with Bev & Martin!! Woo hoo!!! I'll get to combine those things that I love - learning + meeting up with good friends. Can't go wrong.
My only goal this season: don't get sick. I wish my hands religiously, but admit I fail on drinking enough water. Must. get. more. water.
I'll be posting photos of Halloween pics if I can track down Maggie and Sophia. I can't wait to see what they dress up as.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Victoria Half Marathon Weekend
What a fun, exhausting, delicious weekend!!! This is the weekend where some gals and I participated in the half marathon, ate a lot of food, gabbed and gabbed and gabbed, and went shopping (a little). It all started on Thursday when dear friends Bev & Martin flew in from San Antonio, TX. We headed to Cafe Juanita that evening for dinner (I love that place - more than I should). Early Friday morning, Bev, Martin, Susan & I headed to Anacortes to catch the ferry to Sidney, BC and then on to Victoria. We went straight to dim sum when we got to Victoria and then that night went to Cafe Brio - a lovely restaurant in Victoria. And from there, the food, fun, and festivities only escalated. You'd think that after doing a half marathon that I'd be thinnner...not so.Read on and you'll find out why.
High Tea at the Empress
One of the highlights of the weekend was having tea with the gals. We got to have dainty food (quite a challenge for me since there's very little dainty about me) and talk and talk and talk. It was the bestest. Bunny couldn't join us since she was still enroute to Victoria. (So sad).
Flower bulbs
Here are the gals with the bulbs that Julie packed for us. Can't wait to plant them, Julie. [Note: Julie was so wonderful and packed a care package for the Victoria girls. She was so thoughtful! She included sponge candy (a specialy where she's from), rock candy (for us to savor on the trail), and flower bulbs (so we'd all be reminded of our transformations). Thank you so much, Julie!]
The Tower
Here is the tower o' food. It was all good - just all in miniature pieces. The bottom tier were the savory pieces - salmon sandwich, cucumber sandwich, mushroom w/ truffle oil, and chicken curry sandwich. The middle tier was the scone with cream. The top tier were the sweets: key lime tart, short bread cookie, and lots of chocolate.
Sampling of high tea
We had some sweet and some savory. My favorite was the savory - especially the mushroom in truffle oil (see the little toastette on the back of the plate). The sweets were all good - chocolates were divine.
Polishing off High Tea
Yeah...we made short order of high tea at the Empress. I love this shot of Kim - a cute pic.
Meeting up with Bunny!
Bunny pulled in to Victoria around 4:30 on Saturday so the gals headed up to the room to get together. It was wonderful to see her again - the last time was at the last Victoria half.
Oh, the carnage!
Our pre (half) marathon meal was at the Bon Rouge restaurant in Victoria. The food was OK, service mediocre, but the company was fantabulous! It was great to get together with everyone, and know that we'd all be sharing in some great experiences, including the pain we'd all be feeling the next morning. BTW, the picture above is of Susan's bone marrow appetizer that she ordered. Never had it, so I tried some. Different. Still don't know what I think about it.
The night before the race
Here we are before we departed for our respective hotels and a good night's rest. These are the best women around!
Pre-race smiles
6:20am rolled around too early. We got up, got ready and made our way to the starting line. Ugh. Notice our smiles? Yeah...we had different expressions on the course - especially on the last 800 meters.
All pau.
We all crossed the finish line. The course was beautiful and it was well worth the trip to Victoria. Here we are holding up a card that a friend sent us.
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