Catching Up

I never blog at work, because, well, I'm at work. But our work email has been down since Wednesday night, so I'm sitting here bored and I feel like posting. :) Yes, I do have a few things I could do, but I don't want to. I already cleaned off my whole desk yesterday.

So, things have just been pretty busy. My life is definitely not boring these days. :) D keeps me busy, with various dinners, wine tastings, concerts, etc. I'm actually a little too busy - I love the occasional day with nothing planned! Last weekend, we took a great mini trip to Yellow Springs and Springfield (OH). We had lunch at the Winds Cafe in Yellow Springs and walked around the little town. Then we stopped for ice cream at Young's, and drove to Springfield where we toured the Westcott House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The building had undergone a significant and careful renovation and it was a great little gem in an area where you wouldn't expect it. I STILL have not been to Fallingwater or Kentuck Knob in Pennsylvania, so we hope to tour those when we have time for an overnight.

Work is pretty busy right now, as we're gearing up for a bunch of fall shows. We're doing 6 mini projects/shows instead of one big one, which should be fun. We're just working very last minute, which makes it difficult for everyone.

Running is going ok. I've been keeping up my training (usually running 4 days a week, with a speed workout on Wednesdays and a long run of 12ish miles on Saturdays) but it has been SO hot and humid that I feel really slow. It doesn't help that I gained back almost 10 of the pounds I lost. So I'm on the fence about which race to run in October - the full or the half. I know I can train for and finish a full, but I don't think I'll probably PR and it might be a bad race. But I'm not sure how fast I'd be in a half either. I'm just really torn because I feel like my training is so crappy. I really wanted to break 4 hours and then take a long marathon break, but I don't know when I'm going to be able to break that time. Decisions, decisions...

sorry :)

Hello! I'm so sorry that I've been so remiss in updating my blog. I've been a little busy these last two months because I have a new boyfriend. :) Yeah, that's my exciting news. He's pretty awesome and we spend just about every second together, so I haven't been spending much time updating the ole blog. I'll try to be better, but I can't promise anything! :)

Other than that, not too much has gone on. I did run the marathon and finished it, despite some issues. It wasn't a PR but I was very proud of how I did. Full race report to come. Work has been very busy lately. The installation was fairly crazed and things haven't really slowed down much sense. So I'm really just trying to get back in the swing of things back and work and in my life.

I have a nice relaxing long weekend planned. I have a long run tomorrow morning with my group, and BBQs on Sunday and Monday with various friends. And other than that, nothing except what I feel like doing! It's my kind of weekend. :)

And then next Friday, I leave for VACATION!!!!! woohoo!!!! I'm SO excited. D and two sets of couples were already planning this trip to Napa, and I get to tag along. Yes, he invited me on a trip after we'd only been dating for a little while. But in my defense, we've known each other for a while and had been friends. So it's not like I'm going on vacation with a stranger. :) So we'll be renting a house in Napa for the first 4 days and then staying on a vineyard in Amador county for the last two days. And I'm starting out the trip by flying to the LA area for my friend JJ's wedding. It will be fun seeing my old Granville friends! Kimberly and I are flying out together and staying in the hotel together, so I'm sure all sorts of craziness will ensue. :)

Ok, time to get my relaxing evening going. I'll try to be better from now on (especially if I can figure out a way to blog from my new Android phone - anyone??) and I'll definitely be updating my food blog (colYUMbus.blogspot.com) more soon as my CSA is supposed to start soon!

ahhh, relaxation.

the shows are open! yay, i can finally relax a bit. (not too much, because next week starts the saga of a bunch of artwork arriving to be photographed for a book, so I've got two more crazy weeks ahead of me)

It's a gorgeous (but freezing!) sunny day today and all is well. I had a great (hilly!! and cold!!) 11 mile run this morning, topped off by breakfast with some of my running gal pals. We all ordered healthy and it was a great start to the day. Now I'm trying to decide the best way to spend the next few hours! I sort of want a nap but I think I'm going to pass for now so I can get some stuff done. I'm sort of in a cleaning/organizing kind of mood. Plus a run to the grocery and Target is in store as well.

Happy weekend!

Back to the Buckeye State

I'm back from Michigan, thanks for the well wishes! It was nice to visit with my mom and see my grandparents. But I was surprised at how weak my grandpa was. :( And my grandmother was as expected - she has alzheimers and can't really be left alone at all. She can still talk and converse with us, but repeats everything and can't remember who anyone is or that sort of thing. My poor mother just seems exhausted and stressed. Unfortunately, both of my grandparents are going to be moving into some of home in the near future, and my mom will have to stay with my grandmother until that transition is made. So I'm sure I'll be back up there again quite a bit in the next few weeks/months (we don't really know how long this will take). Alzheimers is such an awful disease - I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I think it's the worst for the loved ones. I'm not sure how my grandfather took care of my grandmother for a long as he did.

Anyhoo, on to happier things. Work will be busy this week, we have an opening on Friday! Two new shows, Hard Targets and Cyprien Gaillard. They're very different, so there's something for everyone! :) www.wexarts.org for more info. :)

I am pretty exhausted (my mom and I stayed up late talking and then I woke up at the crack of dawn) so I think I'm going to start winding down. Maybe read for a bit. Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Sunday Sunday

Well, the weekend is already over! I've actually been sick all weekend, fun times. I started feeling not great at work on Friday (I tried to pretend it was just psychosomatic because 2 of my co-workers went home sick) and felt fairly crappy all weekend. No fun. I don't feel completely awful but I definitely don't feel great. I may not go to work tomorrow, we'll see.

Despite not feeling great, I did do my 22 miler on Saturday morning. Longest run before the marathon, and we are officially tapering! Holy crap. Three weeks from today is the big race. I can't believe it's already here.

We got the Tuymans show open on Wednesday. It was a really draining install period. I think the show looks fantastic and we're getting tons of big press on the show...New York Times, LA Times, Elle, Elle Decor, The New Yorker. Pretty exciting. It was just a lot of work and very stressful.

Not much else is going on here. Just hoping to feel better soon and run my marathon!!

finally!

got the toe fixed on Friday and the doc cleared me to run today. Yay! I had a great 13 mile run. I've been worried lately about my ability to consistently run 9 minute miles at the marathon, which is about the pace I'll need to run to hit my 4 hour goal, once you account for the slow start we'll inevitably have. When I try to push the pace, I usually end up running too fast. So I decided to try today. I did the first 6 at my normal 9:30 easy pace, and then pushed it. I went way too fast on the next 2 miles, about 8:30-8:40, but I got all of the next 5 miles pretty much on the money - about 8:55 to 9:00. I ended with a 9:10 average over 13 miles - almost exactly the 9:09 average I need to break 4 hours. I felt great, too! Of course, it will be a lot harder over 26.2 miles, but I feel a lot better about it now. It was probably harder than I should have run today given my 4 days off and my 22 miler on Saturday, but oh well. :)

Not much else here, just gearing up for the opening at work on Wednesday. I am SO ready to get this show open! I can't wait for things to feel a bit more normal.

WTF?

So, Jelly bit me tonight. Hard. Drew blood. The UPS man came to the door to deliver a package and she went crazy. She always goes crazy when she sees anything related to UPS. I don't know what it is, maybe she hates that shade of brown? :P Anyway, she was going crazy barking and jumping at the door and I tried to tell her no and get her out of the way and she bit my finger. She tried to do it again when I tried to move her. I was PISSED. I don't know what to do to show that dog that I'm in charge. She's never done anything quite like this before. Arggghhh.

On a better note, work is going ok and it is super fun to have my old boss back. She is so much fun and I love working with her. I have a very strong feeling we're going to end up working this weekend though, which kinda sucks. Oh well.

I had dinner with my sister tonight at northstar. Laura, sorry I was so crabby at the beginning! bad day. I didn't ask enough Korea questions either. I still need to hear more. :) Thanks for meeting me though!

September?

I cannot believe it's already September. But you know what? It actually feels like it! It's very cool in the mornings this week. Like sweatshirt and pants to walk the dogs cool.

We went to a Clippers game last night - so fun! The new park is pretty nice and even though we got standing room only "seats," it was easy to see the action and it felt like we were very close. The food and drink is crazy overpriced, but everything else was great.

I'm about to head into crazy busy at work. We're going to start opening up crates of art work today. Hopefully everything will go smoothly!

Monday

Well, my 18 mile run went really well! I was darn tired by the end of it, but I felt pretty good through most of it. That said, I'm not sure I can push the pace enough to finish in under 4 hours. That's my "stretch" goal for this race - finish is under 4 hours. I think it's *possible* but not likely. Really, I'll be happy with a PR, but I'd love to have a great race and break the 4 hour mark. I'm not going to hold my breath though. I've been training really hard but there are so many factors I can't control, including the 44,999 other people running the race with me and fighting for space. :)

I'm sorry I talk about running so much right now, but it's a big focus for me until the race. This is probably the most dedicated I've been to training in a long time, maybe even ever. Hopefully it will pay off!

Work has been pretty crazy too. We have a big Luc Tuymans exhibition opening in a few weeks and things keep cropping up with that. I can't wait until it is open and done!!!

I think it's about time to get to bed. I'm debating whether to run in the morning or not. I keep getting this pain above my ankle and I don't want to push it too hard because I'd rather get my speed workout in on Wednesday than a slow easy run tomorrow. Maybe I'll get up and play it by ear.

August already?

Sorry I've been such a slacker. Things have been crazy all over. This past week was crazy work week. We de-installed our shows and spent the whole week packing up everything. It's always really rough but I had the extra fun of having a ton of stuff to do on the upcoming show since I'm pinch hitting as both the registrar and curatorial assistant on the show. And then I got the extra bonus of getting sick on day 2. Fun fun. I feel much better now.

I've also been running a lot more. I really want to do well in the Chicago Marathon this fall, since I think it will likely be my last full for a while. So I've been trying to get my weekday runs in and going to speed workouts on Wednesdays, and this week I'm going to get back into the gym to lift weights again. Yesterday's run was 15 miles, shew! I actually don't think I've run that far in over a year. Considering I was still kinda sick and slacked off running this week, it went pretty well.

I also have been car shopping since I have to give Laura her car back soon. I ended up getting a black Honda CR-V EX. I really wanted a Toyota Highlander but decided to spend less money. I'm a little proud of myself for being somewhat frugal. :) Todd got a new car too, an Audi A4. It is so freaking nice.

Tomorrow we head out to Granville after work to see my aunt, uncle and cousin! They're stopping at my mom's house en route from Texas to see my grandparents in Michigan. I haven't seen them in several years, so it should be fun. Apparently my cousin is old enough to drive now, which is shocking.

Ok, enough babbling for now. I've got some errands to run!

phew

I feel so busy right now!!! Wow. Work is really busy right now. Life is busy. I did take some time out today to go on a behind-the-scenes tour of the OSU football stadium (work-organized, but also part of the reason I feel so crazy - it ended up taking 2 hours!). It was so cool. I'll steal some pics form my friend/coworker Dave and post them. We got to do all kinds of things - go in the locker room, walk on the field (barefoot for me!), go in the press box, a suite, etc.

I'm in the midst of making biscotti for one of my favorite security guards at work. He's retiring tomorrow and he loves my biscotti, so I'm making some for him. I also wanted to get my herbs potted tonight, but since it's almost 9 and I still have work work to do, I think it will have to wait until tomorrow night. Plus I have a walkthrough with a bride and her mom tomorrow (wedding is Saturday) so I need to make sure I'm prepared for that.

Hope everyone is having a nice week and had a great Memorial Day weekend!

Sorry!!

I'm sorry I have been so bad about updating the blog! I have been really busy lately and have been incredibly tired, so I just haven't felt like it.

Last Wednesday was our opening at work. We opened three new shows:
Catch Air: Robin Rhode
Coop Himmelb(l)au: Beyond the Blue
William Forsythe: Transfigurations
You can read all about them at www.wexarts.org because I'm too lazy to write more about them right now. :) I worked mostly on the Coop show, which is about an architecture firm.

Last weekend I ran (12 VERY hilly miles) on Saturday and Todd and I tried out a new restaurant in Columbus called Barrio. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. I had pretty high hopes for it but it kind of failed to deliver. It's a tapas place and it opened in an old Wendy's in downtown. I also got to spend some excellent qualiy time hanging out with Tammy and Trevor and Shannon. T and T don't get out nearly often enough so it was great to see them. And Shan is always fun of course. :)

Sunday I had back-to-back showers. After finishing making and then dropping off some desserts for the 2nd shower, I went to a really nice wedding shower for my friend Adriane. Then I hightailed it up to the second shower, which I co-hosted with 4 other friends. This was a baby shower for my friend Abby, with whom I run. (or used to!) Both showers were lots of fun but I was completely exhausted!

And this week at work has been much busier than I thought. We always think of installations as really hard work for a short period of time and then a break. But there never really is a break. :) Oh well.

This weekend is more running tomorrow, maybe some shopping with Adriane, and Easter on Sunday. Todd and I are heading out to my mom's house where we'll get to see my mom and stepdad and also my brother, his wife, and my nephew! Hopeefully I will also have lots of time to clean and organize my apartment! It is looking VERY rough around the edges.

I'll try to keep up with the blog more now. :)

c is for cookie

I've been drinking wine and am going to make whole wheat snickerdoodles tonight! I've never made them before, so hopefully they turn out ok. I decided to skip the gym tonight (since I had a wonderful run last night!) and am instead being productive at home. I already cleaned some stuff and ate a somewhat healthy dinner. With of course a glass of wine. :)

Liz, to answer your question, we have three shows opening next week! I will post more about them soon, but in the meantime, here is the link to the Wexner Center website for more info: www.wexarts.org. I'm working mostly on the Coop Himmelb(l)au show (architecture). Although of course I have to get at least a little involved in all of them. :)

Zzzzzz

I am so exhausted. Work has been so tiring, and even when it's not physically exhausting, it's mentally draining. UGH. I need to run more but I've been working so much that I'm too tired to get up early and my feet are killing me by the time I get home at night. Tomorrow I will run. I will.

Yesterday Todd and I drove to Indy for his sister's baby shower. It was a really nice day. The only downside was that it took up most of the day and I had to work on Saturday, so my apartment is a wreck. It was a nice day though.

I have to be at work early tomorrow, so I should really get to bed. Or at least pretend to. :)

Only a bit more than a week till the opening...

TGIF

I haven't really had anything interesting to blog about this week. :) Work was super crazy last week and was slightly less crazy this week, but still pretty busy. We had a warm spell again, so that was nice! Now that March starts this weekend, it definitely feels like we're starting to turn the corner towards spring. Yay! I dressed for spring today though, and the temperature has dropped about 15 degrees since I got to work, so I am dreading walking out to my car. Hopefully the weather will stay dry for tomorrow morning's run!

Which reminds me, I don't think I ever posted on here that I officially signed up for the Chicago Marathon this fall! Or maybe I did. Sorry if that's a repeat. Anyway, I'm kind of excited. I think it will probably be my last full marathon for a while. Having to get up early every single Saturday and watch yourself on every Friday can really get to be a drag. So I'm hoping to have a really good run and kind of go out on a good note. Hopefully the third time will be a charm!

For anyone who wants to head to Chicago to cheer me on (hint hint!), here is the link to the race info: http://www.chicagomarathon.com

The race is Sunday, October 11. Only 225 more days! (According to the countdown clock on the website, I did NOT just know that.) Typing that actually gave me a flutter of nervousness in my belly. :)

I guess that's enough rambling. It's probably late enough that I can head on out of work for the day. Have a fabulous weekend!!

TGI almost Friday!

This has been a very long week, so I am SO glad it's almost over. I got up at 3:45 this morning to get to work for a 5:00 shipment of art. Brutal. And then I worked 10 hours and didn't leave until 3. Needless to say, I took a nap when I got home. I tried to just take a short nap but I could not wake back up. Now it's biting me in the a$$ because I need to go to bed and I'm not tired. Oh well.

I finally hit the gym tonight though. I need to get back into weight lifting. I checked a book out from the library called The New Rules of Lifting for Women. I heard good things about it about a year ago and finally got around to getting it. So far, I really like a lot of what they have to say. I'll post a more thorough review soon. Anyway, I did day one of the lifting routine. On paper, it sounded pretty easy, but I'm already sore! That is not a good sign. Oh well. I hope it goes away before my long run on Saturday! I haven't had a good long run with my group in a while so I'm really hoping to have a nice one.

Todd and I are going to plan our vacation this weekend. We're planning to go to California in April. We'll visit his best friend from college, who lives near Oakland, and his family (his son is Todd's godson) and also go off on our own to Napa/Sonoma and maybe also a day or two in San Fran itself. If anyone has any must-visits, let me know! I've been before so both of us have seen all of the standard tourist attractions, but there's always tons to do. I am definitely looking forward to some winery action. Shocker, huh? :)

so busy!

Sorry I haven't been updating, but I have been a busy girl. I'm taking it easy and trying to get caught up on things tonight.

I coordinated a wedding on Saturday, so last week was very busy with last-minute things for that. In addition to the standard coordinating stuff, I also designed and made their menus, programs, favors and seating chart. Here's a pic of the menu and favor mockups:


The wedding was on Valentine's Day, so they went with a Valentine's theme. (They went with the two hearts on top of the menu. They're conversation hearts, in case you can't tell.) Her dress had red in it and the bridesmaids wore black. They were so sweet and wonderful to work with. I coordinated a wedding for the bride's cousin in 2007, and the bride and groom met at that wedding!! How cool is that? Anyway, the bride looked absolutely beautiful and I really enjoyed myself even though I was working. :)

After my whole day at the wedding on Saturday, I had to get my long run in on Sunday morning. The weather was cool but not bad and the trail was (finally!) clear, so it was actually a really nice run. It started off slow because I was so tired, but no biggie. And then I had to head in to work in the late afternoon. Our huge Andy Warhol show closed on Sunday night, so I had to go in for the final preparations and that sort of thing. My coworker and I always go in after the shows close and get ready. Since it was Warhol, they kept the show open later than normal, so I was there until almost 11 last night. And then today was the first day of de-installation, so that was hectic. It was an exhausting day today, but we actually got a ton done. We're moving really quickly.

And to start my weekend off, after the wedding rehearsal, Todd made a fabulous dinner for Valentine's Day, since I was busy on Saturday. He did an amazing job, and it was really delicious. Here's what he made:
Some brie and sausage to munch on
Soup: cream of cauliflower with a drizzle of olive oil
Salad: Mixed greens with roasted beets, candied nuts, hearts of palm, sprouts and homemade blue cheese dressing
Main course: Seared scallops, herbed polenta and mint-lime snap peas
Dessert (made by me): Creme Brulee with triple chocolate brownie

yum yum yum! :) Plus wine and champagne. :)

Ok, that's probably enough yammering! I'll try to post more regularly now that the worst of the craziness is over. :)

Cross Your Fingers...

Since I technically work for a university, I always dare to dream that I could some day get a snow day. Well, if my dream is ever going to come true, it's tonight. We're supposed to get up to 6 inches of snow and ice. Of course we all know the forecasts are frequently wrong, but it has been snowing for a few hours already. And the school actually sent out a notice about where to find closure information, which they almost never do. Granted, they were quick to say that nothing was cancelled yet, but still. :) Plus our HR person sent out something with information about if we close as well. I feel like a dorky little kid, but I am SO hoping for a snow day!!!! So, cross your fingers for me! :)

Made it to day 2!

Last night Todd and I went to a law firm's holiday party. It was very fun (we got to hang out with our friend Andy) and the food and drinks were delish. Then I came home and made cookie dough in preparation for making Christmas cookies. I love decorating sugar cookies but I get really sick of it after about 4. :) My lil sis is in Korea for a year though, and she needs some down home cooking, so I'm sending them to her. (surprise!) Maybe if I can figure out how, I'll post a picture of some of the finished product.
This is my current favorite sugar cookie recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Soft-Christmas-Cookies/Detail.aspx
I use half butter and half margarine (margarine makes the dough easier to roll, sorry about the trans fats!!!) but otherwise follow the recipe.

Today has been a busy day at work. We're working on an upcoming architecture exhibition that is pretty slow in the planning. Some budget numbers kind of hit the fan today, but we keep getting reassured that everything will be all right.

I also ran on the treadmill before work this morning, and had a great run, yay! It's so interesting to me how some runs are so much better than others. I drank a lot of wine last night, so one would have expected a crappy run. Apparently I function better with antioxidants of the fermented type. It was a short run, but I did speedy intervals. The only complete annoyance was when I accidentally hit the stop button midway through. GRRRR!

Speaking of running, I need to sign up for a race. MIT (my marathon training group) starts again this weekend, and I find I train better when I actually have a goal in mind. And no, I don't mean signing up for the Flying Pig 4 weeks before the race (ahem, 2008). I heart my running group. :)

While I don't sound all the boring to myself, anyone reading this (no one yet since I haven't told anyone!) is probably bored to tears. Happy Hump day! :)