If I Ever Decided to Bat for the Other Team....

I had my first date in 23 years last night, and she was a dream!  Hahaha! Mom, if you're reading this relax, you can take a deep breath and stop clutching your heart now hahaha!  Thank you Ginny for being Ginny Robinson last night.  I had such a good time with you!

Being Mrs. Richmond Generals has been a pretty exciting experience for the most part.  I have a great deal of pride in the team assembled by my husband and our awesome coach, RC Lyke.  We have boys, I shouldn't really call them boys they are aged 17-20 but saying young men makes me feel old like my bones should rattle when I walk, from all around the country.  Great players, lots of talent, a really impressive team.  We are in second place in our division heading into the playoffs and teams are afraid to play us because of how hard our boys can hit.  We have a lot of depth, not just one good line, but every one of our lines brings something to the table.  Listen to me...Anyway, the down side of this endeavor is having to fly solo as often as I do.  Brad doesn't believe in doing anything half way and he travels with the team, hoping to maintain the level of class he expects, and I think he really enjoys it to boot.  But it leaves me to my own devices all too often.

Enter Ginny in a mauve dress because she knows how I love anything that even remotely resembles pink.

We had tickets to the Tri Bash this weekend.  Brad is membership director, he was SUPPOSED to be there, but it was the All Star weekend for the Met League and 7, yes 7, of our players were tapped to play.  So I was relegated to singing "Single Bells, single bells, single all the way" yet another weekend for another function.  I was graciously invited to join Heather and her beau Joe as their date but I didn't want to get in their way.  They're NEW <3, they didn't need me bothering them.  I decided to ask someone to join me, Yep, I found myself a date.  I have to admit, this dude stuff is new to me.  Unsure how to snag a hottie, I did what any socially network savvy dude would do, I asked her on Facebook and she enthusiastically said Yes :)  Oh what fun, we will have woot!

We arranged to meet, we originally were going to meet for drinks before hand, but that got all screwed up, more life coming at me fast stuff, so we met at the Bash.  Let the fun begin, and did it ever!  Ginny and I totally playing up the girl date thing, toss in liberal amounts of good friends, movie quotes, double entendres me rapping, wine and mix well.  Voila!  One recipe for a really good time :)

I could get used to this dude stuff, I might need to have a date for Superbowl Weekend.  Not sure if Brad is going to be gone or not, but there's a good chance I'll be alone again.  And this dudette needs to be prepared.  Oh Ginny, you are a Giants fan right??

Yewon Me Over hahaha!

Korean food is yummy, I love the stuff so when Brad asked me today if I'd like to try this Korean place he spied on Hull Street Road called Yewon, I answered with an enthusiastic YES!  You know you're in for some really authentic food when you are the only people in the whole place that aren't Korean.

To say the place isn't fancy is an understatement.  Nope, very simple indeed.  We were greeted by the owner I am going to assume.  He was extremely gracious, invited us to sit down and handed us our menus.  As we perused them, we both received tall glasses of hot tea which was pale in color with a slightly nutty and roasted taste.  The owner then  tried to explain the menu to us.  He asked if I liked spicy food which of course I do, so he directed me to that page in the menu.  Bless his heart, he was trying but his English was rather limited.  I understood him for the most part, Brad said it was a good thing he explained everything to me, because he caught none of the explanation.  The menu was in Korean first, a little English next with pictures for the Korean food challenged.  He showed us the traditional spicy Korean dishes, Chinese dishes that were translated to Korean dishes, then he turned the page and I saw the picture.  I think I squealed.  My all time favorite Korean dish was there, bibimbap

Bibimbap is like a flavor explosion, a Korean food party in a sizzling stone bowl.  Then there's the chili paste sauce, need I say more?  And of course there was bulgogi which I absolutely love.  So Brad and I decided let's get a few dishes and split them.  He got the bibimbap and I got the spicy pork bulgogi, we added steamed dumplings because we wanted to and waited for the dishes to arrive.

Best way to describe the first dishes that hit our table would be Korean dim sum.  A plate with pickled radishes, slices of some kind of omelet, fried tofu and kimchi another of my favorite dishes.  We plowed through those, they were yummy and small, and the bulgogi came after we were done.  Another round of the little tasty bites came with the bulgogi.  We piled sticky rice in our bowls, brought our dipping bowls closer because those dipping sauces were to die for and dug in.  Delish! The pork was paper thin, there were sliced vegetables, too good.  As we were enjoying the bulgogi, the bibimbap made it's appearance.  Hello beautiful, come to mama!  I took a cross section of everything in the bowl, half the egg, some of the sliced zucchini (which I am used to spinach not zucchini), finely sliced carrots, rice noodles, shredded beef and sticky rice underneath.  

I have heard tale of the perfect bite, thought that maybe like figuring out which came first the chicken or the egg, it's impossible, but I experienced it today.  With my chopsticks I scooped up a mouthful of food which was....dramatic pause.....the elusive perfect bite.  The silkiness of the egg, the sweetness of the carrots, the garlicky bite of the zucchini, the nuttiness from the sesame oil that coated the bean sprouts, the richness of the beef, the saltiness of the nori in the rice, and I got some rice that was almost crispy from being on that hot bowl and the punch from the chili paste based sauce I liberally doused the whole bowl with and there it was, my perfect bite! Nirvana on my chopsticks.

As I was happily humming along and eating my food, the steamed dumplings came in for a landing..Delicious, the beef was beautifully spiced, the sauce to dip in savory and a bit sweet.  So good...Brad and I were sitting there thinking we couldn't possibly eat anymore when the owner came and brought two bowls of a sauce he explained was a fermented bean paste. That Korean people mix it with their noodles.  I looked around the restaurant and saw my fellow diner's chopsticks coated with the dark paste as they slurped their noodles up.  He told us to mix it up with our food, which I happily did.  It was rich, thick and almost black.  There was caramelized onions, a little salty, I joked with Brad it was like Korean spaghetti sauce!  So good and unlike anything I had ever tasted.   

The owner explaining the dishes, and taking the time to teach us the correct Korean pronunciation, checking in on us to make sure we were happy, I was impressed.  He spent an awful lot of time helping us out, and for that I am truly appreciative!  

Brad asked for a take out menu as we were getting ready to go and he gave us a business card.  On the back were some of the dishes you could order.  Like I said to Brad, this is what I imagine a mom and pop Korean place to be like.  Nothing fancy, no cutesy folded napkins, spartanly decorated, but oh so yummy and homey feeling.

I told Brad, the next time I go, that spicy beef and noodle soup I saw on the menu, the Jap Chae and the seafood version of the Bibimbap will be on the table for us to share.

Jeulgeoun sigsa!

Shoes, 'Nuff Said....

Shoes, there is something about shoes that can bring me to my knees and make me all giddy like a little girl.  Maybe that's where it comes from.  What little girl didn't stomp around in her mommy's heels?  I hear tale that there were some little girls that wore their mom's slips on their heads wishing for long blonde hair instead of long brown, while they practiced walking in heels but I wouldn't know lol...

This shoe is nothing short of shoe porn for me. I would love a pair of these, but really, where would I wear them?  I highly doubt they go with running shorts.  But oh, how they call to me....

This has been more my speed these days.

Every now and again, the little girl in me screams and stomps her foot, arms crossed over her chest, pouting,  I want fancy big girls shoes.  Not to be mixed up with my running diva friend's big boy running shoes!

So any excuse will do to get some fancy shoes.  Enter the Tri Club Bash.  Check out these Via Spigas I snatched up last year for the bash.

I was all excited, I had a dress picked out and was positively giddy at the thought of getting shoes.  It's not so much the dress for me as it is those darned shoes.  Then my husband informs me he won't be here.  Wait, it was my one excuse to get dressed up.  There are only so many times that I want to wear Addidas stamped across my chest, and my clothes being like skin on bologna so I cut down on wind resistance.  It's nice to get all fancy every once in a blue moon.

"Where the hell are you going to be?" I ask petulantly.  What, an All Star Game that 7 our hockey players got chosen to play in is more important then my chance to wear my big girl shoes??  Even more then that, it's my chance to go try on shoes that I won't be wearing with socks!  This is so not fair!  But being the ever resourceful woman I am, I do what any person married for 22 years would do, I am going solo!  Actually I had many requests from friends saying I could join them.  So when Heather and her boyfriend said I could tag along with them I said yes.  Besides awesome company, I get my shoes hahaha!!

I went online and started looking at shoes, styles I might like.  I knew I wanted some that would wrap around my ankle, and came up with these.  You should have seen me catwalking in these babies.  I was thinking I was all that, and for a minute, I believe I was!

Then I accessorized.  I picked bracelets, earrings, looked at evening bags, wraps to keep me warm.  I realized something as I was flitting from store to store.  This is something I do maybe once a year.  One time a year I can go pick out pretty, sexy, hot clothes.  The once every now and again where I am going to wear sparkly jewelry and makeup.  The one time I will do something with my hair other then a pony tail or shoving it under a swim cap. Someone referred to this Bash as the Tri Prom.  You know I believe they are right.  Only this time I am not wearing Jessica McClintock.

I am a little girl again with my mother's slip on her head and her fancy shoes on.  The little girl who rummaged through mom's jewelry box, put her makeup on and thought I looked Red Carpet ready by the time I was done.

Wearing big girl shoes will do that to you....

A post from a blog I was invited to guest blog on, I wanted it here too :)

So here I stand, peeking over the edge of the cliff, knowing that I have the potential to mark one more thing off of my bucket list. Please, somebody push me, I believe my feet are stuck….

Rewind-----

You know, there are life altering things that occur when you least expect it and you decide you need to do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do. Bucket lists are formed and your life does indeed get changed in so many ways. When you’re diagnosed with a potentially debilitating disease it gives you pause. Makes you think long and hard about things in your life.

Would I have any more children? Would I go blind? Would I need a wheelchair, a cane, a walker? I would be damned if this disease defined me. Damn it all to hell, I was going to be me.

Fast forward to today, almost the eve of the most monumental thing I have ever done besides having children. But this is one of those things that got added to my bucket list in my head when I flipped off MS. The things I had to do before my body betrays me. My training showed me that certain things are changing for me, changing for maybe ever. But I will be an Ironman, or woman as it were, if I can just make it through. I have to do this.

Thank you to my friends for your never ending cheerleading. Telling me I have this when it could be a very real possibility that my body doesn’t but I am going to try anyway. Your enthusiasm and confidence in me meant more then I can begin to tell you!

Thank you to my husband and girls for supporting me along the way, and believing in me and cheering me on. Your patience and love mean so much to me. I love you more then I can ever say. I cannot wait to see you on the other side!

And thank you to my best friend Heather (this is, after all, all your fault). A training partner extraordinaire, we logged miles, secrets, laughs and tears along the way. You have become a part of my heart and family through all of this madness and I truly wouldn’t be here without you being beside me every lap, pedal stroke and step. Run your race, I will run mine. I know in my heart how well you will do!!! Rock it girl, I cannot wait to see you when I finally finish!

I know no matter what my time is that I am truly blessed to have made it through with everything I have had heaped on my physically. I wish training could have been easier too, all of the road rash, sprains, jelly fish stings and concussions will be worth it after I am done. I’ll take whatever time I get and know in my heart I am lucky to have made it this far at all. 

I am ready, I am doing this, I WILL BE AN IRONMAN “we all step up to the starting line with something…no excuses”

Ginny thanks for including me on this blog!!! I was flattered when you asked me, I admire your writing, your running, your being a mom, wife and student. This has been the most remarkable journey, and I have been able to chronicle it for posterity! You're a total GBA and I am honored to be thought of as such by you!!

In your immortal words---SAVOR the run (or IM lol)

If, you're so terrific, if I'm going to be specific

That was my favorite song from the Electric Company. It went on after the I'm going to be specific, "if is a kind of special word, if is a word that helps you dream...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8tXFFD38Ww Too true! Who would know that song would be the soundtrack of my life??

I think every thing that happens the way it does for the necessary outcome. Don't believe me, let me rewind and see IF you agree.

Have you ever caught yourself thinking, "what IF so and so happened?" Then such and such would occur. Doesn't seem like a big deal really, but isn't it? That is what prompted this blog today. I got thinking about a what IF moment and realized all of the other IFs involved.

I had my first "true" love in college. Yes, I had some short term boyfriends before I met my ex, but he was the first guy I went out with for longer then a month or two. My memory is sort of fuzzy on length of time, but it was darned near close to two years we were together. Thankfully, he got tired of me and broke up with me for the girl who lived above me in the dorms. But what IF he didn't?

Flash to somewhere in the midwest where my now husband was in a relationship with a woman that he thought maybe was "the one". Fortunately she didn't agree. But what IF she did?

See where I'm going with this? IF my ex didn't dump me and IF Brad's ex didn't say No, then there would be no chance at the "We" for the last 23 years, get it?

Let me expound further, IF my parents hadn't decided to plan a last family style vacation that I said I'd love to go on, a cruise to the Caribbean, my last semester senior year in college, and IF said cruise didn't get cancelled and IF my parents didn't say, "Ok, a cruise to Mexico to replace it would be fine". Where would I be?

This is fun! One more time on the yang side of this yin. What IF Brad didn't win that contest at work for selling the most lots? And what IF when he got out to LA to board the boat he did indeed walk away when he saw the amount of blue hairs boarding??

Ping pong back to me! What IF we did miss our flight to LA because we got stuck in that awful traffic at Kennedy? What IF they didn't call down to the gate and hold the plane for the handful of us racing to catch that flight? What IF airport security is what it is now, yikes!! I shudder to think.

The plot thickens...more IFs to consider!

What IF I wasn't social and able to introduce myself to a girl right around my age on the cruise and ask IF she wanted to go to the singles night on board the ship after we got done with dinner? What IF she said no because she did have a boyfriend at the time?

Here's my favorite, what IF I wasn't a hypocrite that evening? What IF I did stick to my guns and tell any guy that asked me to dance to Screw off like I had just told my newly found friend I was going to do? My heart had just been smashed to bits by my ex, I was over men for awhile, or so I thought. What IF I decided that Coronas and Pina Colodas were going to be the only things I cozied up with the next few days?

And what IF Brad didn't want that beer badly enough to ask me to dance because that was the only way he was getting a drink from the bartender? What IF he didn't find my NY accent as charming as he did lol??

What IF I closed my mind to the possibility of love at first sight? What IF I decided to be level headed and sensible?

What IF Brad didn't go out with his friend right after he got back to Chicago and what IF his friend didn't point out to him what a mistake it would be to not see me again regardless of distance? What IF Brad could stop talking about me, and thinking about me? What IF I didn't stay with him the way that I did? Eeep!

The wheels were set in motion and our destinies were bound together by the IFs at this point.

Some incidental IFs now occur that seal our fates:

What IF I didn't get that dozen long stemmed red roses from Brad that day thanking me for a terrific time? What IF we didn't talk on the phone every day after that until we saw each other again? What IF my father didn't say I could go visit Brad for his birthday? What IF Brad didn't come in March after meeting me in January, and take me to Niagara Falls to propose to me?

What IF we listened to all of the naysayers. The people swearing we'd be divorced due to our ages and length of time we'd been together? Well ha ha on you people, still here, still married and still happy woot!! You'll be the first to know IF that changes, don't worry....

Here are some honorable mention IFs just for kicks and giggles:

What IF we didn't do flaming shots and I didn't burn my lips

What IF we didn't go to Senior Frogs and dance on tables

What IF we didn't find a small group of friends to hang out with every night? One of them was in our wedding even!

What IF I didn't win the Beer Drinking contest (that was the day Brad said in his mind he swore he was going to marry me lol) beating out male and female competitors alike?

We all have our IFs in life (see, there is an "if" in the l"if"e lol). Where did your IFs lead you? Can you imagine what your future would be if it weren't an IFfy proposition?

Yep, time to break into my favorite IF song again. Yes IF you made my dreams come true :)

Sweet Dreams are made of this....

I like dreaming, I like being able to fly, out run zombies, run like Paula Radcliff, swim like Michael Phelps, be all sorts of glamorous, desirable, sexy and non-mom like. Then waking up and revelling in the after glow. Some dreams you forget, some come flickering back to you and you get snippets of what happened, some embarrass you and you think why on earth did I dream that about him (or her) and it makes it difficult to look that person in the eye again lol.

And some you cherish. They're like a gift and make you smile all day long.

I am smiling today.

I was going to a Rangers game. I can't remember who I was with. I am thinking it was MiMi, my best friend who was killed in a car accident the week after my oldest was born. We used to go see the Rangers at the Garden. We'd sit up in the Blues and enjoy the fights in the stands as much as watching Ron Dugay and Pierre LaRouche skate around *le sigh*. We'd look for Carol Alt and all of the other Rangers wives and girl friends, and oh yeah, we watched the game too.

I digress, anyway, I walked into what was obviously an aquatic center, but of course the Rangers were playing there, hey it's my dream, it could happen! I looked up in the stands and I saw him, sitting next to my Godfather was my dad. He burst into this huge smile when he saw me and started waving and calling to me. He looked so handsome in his Hickey Freeman suit, I used to go shopping with him, the man could dress, and healthy, not like he was at the end of his life. He came tearing down the stands and I ran to him, and he hugged me. I haven't felt that hug in over 8 years, but as real as the tears that are trickling down my cheeks right now, I swear it was real, and felt so good, and safe and familiar. For those few precious seconds in my dream world, I was with my dad again. I could smell him, and feel him, and hear him and I was with him again, his little girl, for just a split second. Then he said he had to leave me. Like real life, he had to go, and then the crowd swallowed him as I so frantically begged him to stay and followed after him. But like all good dreams, it had to end and he was gone poof....

I woke up this morning and I realized I was smiling. Because you see, I believe dad came to me last night. I can count on one hand the amount of times I dreamed of him since he died. Each dream is like a gift to me. Another moment with dad that I cannot have while I am awake. Today I am awash with happy memories of dad. I cannot help but smile and be thankful for the sleeping gift that I was given.

Although I miss you Pop your visit last night was wonderful. Indeed, sweet dreams are made of this, who am I to disagree?

Things I Love

Today as I was totally overwhelmed with my life I decided to focus on the things that I love so I wouldn't lose my mind (too late, yeah I know hahaha). So here are some things I love in no particular order:

These two beasts


ooooooo, or these boots, they're all sorts of sassy




my husband, particularly in this picture because he is such a good guy, with a good heart and he let's me indulge in my St. Francis endeavors. Pay no attention to the Mini Pin sneaking out of his shirt....

When your daughters are all excited because their favorite song is on the radio and they have to turn it all the way up, dance and sing their lungs out in the car *cough Katie, Emily and Erin* without a genuine care in the world for those few minutes.

Or watching the hockey team your husband put together with all of the pride of a momma bear watching her cubs frolic. And being grateful that your friends come to enjoy the game as well.

Or enjoying an early dinner with your hubby because the kids were fed earlier and it's a chance for you to have a dinner with adult conversation.

Or the email I got from the NYC triathlon race director because John and I are tight like that lol!

Or watching Artemis and Apollo play. He just walked over to the sleeping little girl and started nibbling all over her until she finally woke up and it was ONNNNNNN!


This outfit because nothing feels as good as a pair of size 4 super skinny jeans, except maybe my size 2 ones, and an awesome Betsy Johnson sweater.


I thought about the above. What an awesome feeling that was to do something that scared the hell out of me, and to come in four minutes under my goal.


My friends, they make me so happy I have them in my life.

And blogging, I love writing. It's cathartic for me. Better then any therapy.

I managed to make it through the day, and got a bunch of stuff done, and remembered so many things that I am blessed with, gotta run

just came in looking for some love, and how I love to give her some....

Well this isn't new, but in case you're hungry and in Richmond

Any of my friends out there looking for a good anniversary dinner place, or just a reason to enjoy a dining experience that will be squirreled away in your Damn that was one of the best meals I've had in a long while file, Arcardia should be filed under D for Do it Now lol! Read on fellow foodies:

To say Arcadia is a just a restaurant is a travesty. It was a positively esoteric experience from the blackberry martini with the frozen rosemary twizzle stick, to the agave whipped butter and fresh bread, to the sweet onion jam and juniper oil drizzled on the carpaccio, to the peppery goodness of my arugula and sour apple salad, to my 12 oz NY strip with the port and shallot butter, to the chocolate decadence three layer torte with chocolate ganache and dark chocolate gelato, to my espresso with the lemon twist at the end. I have never had a meal that sublime in my life. What a meal, what a restaurant.**

**I did fail to mention my sides of collard greens with homemade duck bacon and broccoli rabe sauteed in garlic and hot pepper flakes. I could have made a meal of those, but I am glad I didn't!!

New Year, new blog, sort of, new day for sure

I decided I needed to revamp some stuff this new year. Yeah, yeah, I made my resolutions, everyone else needs to change, not me hahaha!! But anyway, I missed my blogging, but my blog was geared towards my training. Well my Ironman is done, and I decided to sort of rework this blog to include my life in general. That way I won't have to start a new blog, and my blogs from before won't go the way of the dodo. So here I am, miss me? Feeling good, and ready to blog, look for every thing here from restaurant reviews, to ranting about my life, and I will repost some stuff I put on FB telling about some of the sorriest and happiest times of my life. To be continued....