Race Recap: Autism Speaks 4M

In our relationship, I am the runner and Christopher is the spectator.  That's just how it has always been.  However, after a 5k in Albany a few years ago, he mentioned to me that he thought he could run one.  He had stood at the finish line watching the variety of people - large and small, young and old - that were completing the task.  He was convinced it was possible.

So...after he finally made the transition to NYC last year, we found a race that would be THE one.  And I signed us up for it.  It ended up being a 4 miler, but I convinced Chris that if you could do 3.1 miles, you could certainly do 4. 

We initially started the Couch to 5k program and were going pretty steady with it when I learned that I would have to move.  Move from an apartment where I...along with mounds upon mounds of my junk...had spent the last six years.  In less than 30 days.  And less than two months from our wedding.  Needless to say, training for the 4-miler moved WAY down on the list of priorities.

Though there were some days that I wasn't sure Chris would be joining me at the start, we both made it there with bells on.  And hundreds...ok maybe not hundreds, but a lot...of boxes of stuff remains scattered all over the apartment where we will start our married life!  But, back to the race...

We arrived in plenty of time to stretch and get a little nervous before the race began.  We had made a goal to stay under 13 minute miles knowing that we would need to alternate between running and walking in order to make it to the finish.  We came out pretty strong on the first mile and even got a little faster on the second mile.  The third mile is the one that gave us trouble as it held all the hills!  We slowed quite a bit there, but we were still set to make our goal when we made it to the 1 mile to go mark.  I told Chris we would have to pick up our pace a bit and finish strong.  And that is exactly what we did...hand-in-hand.

I only wish there was a photo of us crossing the finish line.  It was by far my favorite racing memory to date.  And Chris even said he would be interested in doing another race next year when we have the time to properly prepare.  Sounds like a fabulous plan to me!!

We ended up clocking 12:48 minute miles for a total time of 51:12.  We were so proud! I even had some fun finisher medals made for us since Chris was dead set on getting one for his awesome achievement :)

Andrea :)

*Linking up with Amanda and Beka for Runners Tell All today.

Wine Riot

A few weeks ago, Christopher and I ventured out on a different kind of date night - Wine Riot!

I kept seeing it pop up on my Facebook newsfeed so eventually I gave it a look.  And we were intrigued, so we checked it out! We were a bit overwhelmed when we walked into the event space!  There were SO many vendors offering tastes of their particular wines.  We didn't know where to start!

We eventually decided to begin with the Reisling Challenge.  We both liked the sweet wine here. 

Next, we ventured over to the Finger Lakes selections.  I knew from the tastings I did at Shannon's Bachelorette Party last year that I really only like wine that is quite sweet...often too sweet for the tastes of others.  Chris confirmed that he likes both dry and sweet wines at this booth. 

After we had a good idea of our likes and dislikes, we sort of just wandered around trying various wines we thought might be good. We did stop in for one of the classes on ordering Italian wines since we are headed that direction for our honeymoon, but there were way too many people crammed into the space and it was a bit difficult to hear.  The information I did hear was interesting, but not sure if it was presented in a manner that would help me remember much for future use.  It would have been nice if they distributed a cheat sheet of sorts as a takeaway from the crash course.

There were a few food vendors at the event as well.  We ate dinner beforehand, but I just had to try something from the Jam Jar Bakery.  Such a neat idea and super cute presentation...and tasty to boot!!

Toward the end of the night, we decided that our overall favorite was the Till Min Drottning Reisling - a delicious wine from the Ma Lung Winery in Brooklyn.  We'll have to be sure to grab a bottle of it for our first official dinner party!

We had a lot of fun wine tasting and chatting with the representatives at each booth.  They have several of these events throughout the US so check out their website here to learn more about how you can join in the Wine Riot fun!

What kind of wine do you prefer?  Do you have a favorite sweet wine I should try?

Andrea :)

Sunday Stadium Review - Lions

Detroit Lions
 

Name of Stadium: Ford Field

Capacity: 65,000

Game Attended: versus Bills in October 2014 with Chris

Worked a game at this stadium? No.

 

Last weekend, Chris and I made a quick weekend getaway to Detroit. One of our main objectives was to cross another stadium off my bucket list.  After our visit to Ford Field, I only have eight stadiums left.  That means I am 3/4 of the way there...hooray!!

The stadium is right downtown just across from the Tigers' baseball stadium.  It was a TOTAL cluster of people at the entrance.  The picture above was taken roughly five minutes before kickoff.  There were some serious issues with getting people into the stadium quickly particularly as game time approached, but the crowd was fairly peaceful.  Unfortunately, we were stuck by a group of smokers though.  Yuck!

Once inside, we were caught up in the game immediately with the massive roars from the crowd - it was loud!  We had to walk halfway around the stadium to our seats, but we were able to check out the wide array of vendors on our walk so we knew exactly what we wanted for lunch by the time we made it to our nosebleed section!

The game started out as a Lions blowout, but some kicker trouble allowed the Bills to turn things around and make a game out of it.  We saw two field goals hit the upright!  Major kicker issues in Detroit!  In the end, the Bills were victorious...and we were shocked by the passive, accepting nature of the Lions fans.  I heard more than one group commenting that at least the kicker was their main problem.  Not sure if that says more about the people of Detriot or is merely a side effect of having a very bad team for a very long time.  Either way, it made for an interesting and at times comical departure from the stadium.

Overall, I liked Ford Field.  Being indoors makes life so much easier...and it can have some definite advantages in the noise level department, too.  There wasn't anything particularly stellar about the stadium, but it is a quite nice venue. 

Andrea :)

Motor City Fun

Chris and I decided we wanted one last weekend getaway before our BIG day arrived so we planned a trip to Detroit.  We had musuems, football, and delicious Italian dishes on our to do list.  And we checked them all off!

We had a day full of musuem fun ahead of us when we landed on Saturday morning.  We drove straight from the airport to the Motown Museum.  We made it just in time for a tour.  They don't allow photos inside, but there is some amazing history tucked away in those walls.  It was a really neat experience...and we even got to sing My Girl in the original recording studio at the end!  SO fun!

After a quick lunch, we headed over to the world's largest institution dedicated to the African-American experience - the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.  Wow!  There were incredible exhibits throughout the museum.  I was particularly intrigued by the information and exhibits surrounding the era of slavery - some truly stunning facts and impactful displays are showcased.  Parts of the exhibits were difficult to wrap my mind around, but the museum is exceptionally designed to capture all facets of African American history.

We'd been going all day so it was nice to head over to the hotel and relax before dinner.  Little did I know that my sweet fiance' had a surprise waiting for me there.  It was so thoughtful of him to arrange for such a fun getaway treat!

Dinner that night was unexpectedly amazing as well.  We randomly came upon Cariera's in Dearborn Heights via a search online, but it seemed authentic so we gave it a shot.  AMAZING!

The bread was by far the best part of the meal, but our entrees were also really great, too!  We snagged some cannoli's to go...and then promptly fell asleep when we got back to the hotel.  They kept pretty well for breakfast though :)

The next day, we managed to check another stadium off my bucket list by heading over to Ford Field for the Lions v Bills game.  Check back here on Sunday for my Stadium Review!

Overall, the trip was beyond successful.  We had a wonderful time away with slim to no wedding talk.  It was the perfect break we needed before the seemingly never ending two weeks that were to come.  We're down to one week now, but are SO ready for our day to get here already!!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  We will definitely be enjoying our last one as singles!!

Andrea :)

Throwback Thursday - Central Perk Style!

I grew up as a certified F*R*I*E*N*D*S addict.  I watched the show religiously...every Thursday night...without fail.  Then...I spent all morning Friday rehashing it with my friend Michelle!  Side Note: How DID we ever survive without Tivo/DVR...seriously??  Never once in those days did I dream that I would be living in my own NYC apartment with my own assortment of unique and interesting friends a few years later, but that is a post for another day.  Today, I want to take you along on a recent adventure of the Throwback Thursday variety.  My friend, Amanda, invited me to be a part of her F*R*I*E*N*D*S Night Out at the Central Perk pop-up in SoHo!

I had SUCH a fun time reliving various episodes of my favorite sitcom by checking out the memorabilia and catching clips of the show on various screens throughout the space.

And, of course, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a photo on THE couch!  Such a fun (and free) night with a lovely group of ladies!  If you are in NYC, it is open for another week.  I highly suggest getting there early as the line is quite long...though totally worth it!!

 

Did you watch F*R*I*E*N*D*S?

 

Who was your favorite character? 

You all know mine is CHANDLER!!

Andrea :)

Murder for Two

 

Wow!  What a show!!  The two actors in this performance were nothing short of phenomenal.  Quite impressive and wildly entertaining!!  I loved every minute! 

 

via Google Images

via Google Images



The actors sing, dance, and play piano all while maintaining whichever character they happen to be at the moment!  One is a detective while the other is every other character at the dinner party where a murder occured.  You can only imagine the hilarity that ensues.  Check it out if you need a good laugh!  You will love it!

Andrea :)

Race Recap: Join the Voices! 5M

In early August, I ran another five miler in my seemingly never ending attempt to qualify for the 2015 NYC Marathon.  I had taken the month of July off from running due to the heat my work schedule and other fun stuff I had going on like being a bridesmaid on the beach and my birthday!

Needless to say, I was pleased to clock a time of 1:02:31 with 12:31 minute miles.  It certainly wasn't my best effort, but given my running break that preceeded the race I think it was a fair time for me.

The best part of the race was that Tony Danza played host for the awards afterward.  So cool!!  The race served as a way to promote Brain Cancer Research. After the run, I stuck around for the awards to get a good photo of Tony Danza, but I got SO much more. The stories of various brain cancer survivors present were truly touching. So touching that it moved me to donate to brain cancer research.

Do you ever run for a cause??

Andrea :)