http://milesandmanhattan.wordpress.com/

My favorite place to spend all of my money buy running shoes & CWX gear is offering a free yoga series. I heart Jack Rabbit.

Pure Yoga is also offering a 3 day studio trial (presumably for people who haven’t been for a free class before?)

Enjoy, pretties. xoxo

2. Workout more. (That sounds like a cute little resolution doesn’t it? Schweattyy.)

3. Review more restaurants (think venison chili at Bell Book & Candle. They have a hydroponic rooftop garden…In Vino date w/my brother and his lovely gf this saturday…)

4. Review some workout classes (thinking of trying me some corefusion cardio, refine method…

5. Chatter about my labor day weekend wedding a bit...is this of interest to some? (wedding dress designer, the hunt for the perfect shoe, the quest for ‘something blue’….)

6. Run with the pup in the spring (hoping to get her and the fiance on some quick 3-6 mile runs this winters and prep her for spring)

7. Eat cleaner. (I mean, who wants to eat dirty?)

Pray tell. What do YOU resolve to do.

xoxox

S

Imagine the scenario. You’re walking with a friend through the streets of NYC and all of a sudden she turns to you and goes “Oh my god you ARE SO FAT! You NEED to go to the gym!!!” Uhhhhh. I know!?!?!?!?! You couldn’t imagine the scenario. Because that person would no longer be your friend. I mean, you might even punch them in the face (orrr is that just me….)

(source)

Yeah, that wouldn’t fly. So here is my question to you (all five readers):

WHY IS IT OK TO SAY THIS TO YOURSELF!?!??!?!?
The simple and obvious answer is, it’s not. Duh. I could go on and on about this. But maybe, just maybe, this holiday season, this January resolution time, you can think about the golden rule or maybe Thumper’s mom: If you don’t have anything nice to say, doesn’t say anything at all. If you don’t have something positive to say about yourself, keep it shut. Until you find something.

Here is a list of suggestions of why you are awesome, in case you are struggling to come up with your own:

1. I used to not be able to _________ (run, walk,  get myself to the gym 2 days a week) and now I can.

2. People consider me a great ______ (friend, spouse, co-worker etc)

3. This year one of my biggest accomplishments was _____ ( work, personal, gaining a new awesome hobby, saving up for a great trip)

4. I’ve been really working hard on _____ (ANYTHING!) and some strides I’ve made in this area are ______

5. I am awesome. Obviously.

So be nice to yourself. Or you might need to punch yourself in the face. If you catch my drift

1. Candle: Everyone likes their apartment/house (I know feel people who own a house, so this will be a recurring theme, my city-centric writing…) to smell good. This candle by anthropologie is the only one I buy for my apartment and light almost daily. It’s soothing, refreshing and simply delicious. It’s also relatively large and well priced ($28)

2. Gym/life organizer: There’s nothing better than something adorable which doubles as something functional. I saw this little gem-y gem at Lululemon this weekend while buying a pair of silverescent challenge crops I didn’t need couldn’t live without. I digresss. This little organizer is cute and functional, the perfect gift for the gym crazy lover in your life.

3.  A bowl. Not for cooking. Come on, I live in NYC. Everyone orders in. My kitchen is the size of my desk at work. Slight exaggeration. But like my darling fiance says “it just SOUNDS better when you exaggerate a LITTLE.” Is THAT how an apartment can miraculously lose or gain500 square feet during his stories?? Right, gifts. Saw these adorable bowls on wedding websites I obsess over vist frequently. They’re wonderful as ring holders (wedding or otherwise) or jewelry in general for the bedside table. I have a similar thing (a square, not a round bowl so CLEARLY I need one of these…) and use it all the time. Anything personalized or monogrammed I adore. It must be the WASP side of me.

4.  ‘Save yourself‘: I love this. I love little things that have multiple uses. I am weird. During all of the insanity and unpleasantness of holiday travel, wouldn’t it be nice to know you had a mini-everything-you-need should you be stranded due to the inevitable awful snowstorm that will hit when you’re trying to get  to your fabulous destination? Amen. Besides, this thing is so cute I want to pinch it’s little cheeks corners.

5. Eat cheaper: I’ve used the bad-johnnies myself, so I can attest to their awesome-ness. Restaurant.com certificates. For just $2 (when they have their 80% off sales, sign up for the emails and WAIT until they send you the code for 80% off, otherwise it’s not as much of a deal…kapiche?) you can score $25 gift certificates to participating restaurants in your area/a friends area. TONS of great restaurants in NYC are on their list, and although restrictions do apply (I mean who DOESN’T read fine print…) they’re pretty legit.

‘Tis the season, right?

Disclaimer: OBVIOUSLYYYYY this blog is not popular enough for me to be compensated by ANYONE for mentioning the afore-tauted products. They’re just things I like. Duh.

xoxo

Drove me a smiling, happy finish. I waved to my adoring fans as I crossed the finish (aka: my parents, brother, his gf, my fiance waiting in the coveted bleacher seats who captured me in this epic portrait)

Final thoughts?

• Running a marathon is awesome. I can’t wait to do it again in 2012.
• Running a marathon isn’t pretty. See above images for pictorial evidence of that reality.
• Running a marathon kills your social life during training.

And in the spirit of the last, deep thought, I’m off to drink

XOXO

s

ps) I hope to return to my regularly scheduled blogging program of:

• Eating (have a couple of good restaurant reviews lined up)
• Working out (some things never change)
• Wedding planning (I bought a dress, booked a place and am ready to DO this thing)

QUEENS: We entered Queens and almost as quickly as we got there, we left. It was a quick ~2 mile jaunt and Long Island city/Queens did a good job of cheering us on. I can’t lie, though I was  dying to get into Manhattan. I know there was a possibility of seeing friends on First Avenue, and I could definitely use a friendly face(s) as a pick me up. So Queens remains rather blurry in my memory. I do, however, remember giant bales of hay somewhere in Queens and the smell of Tacos. Anyone?? Finally, it was time to hit the Queensboro and start ‘running towards home’. One of the best quotes I heard all day was from one of the fellow runners on my charity bus at 5:35 a.m. “Hey guys? I hate to break it to you, but this bus is going to drop you off. And then you’re going to have to run home.” Epic. Even though I live 60 blocks away from Tavern on the Green, I still continued to use the mantra of ‘running home’ as my feet continued to pound the asphalt.

Manhattan: FINALLY. The famed 1st Ave. “The crowd will carry you!” “You won’t even know you’re running!” Well, sort of. It’s kind of hard to “not know” you’re running after 16 miles. In my estimation. My legs knew I was running, but my heart and my head were definitely all over the place. All of a sudden in the 80′s  I heard SHRIEKING and looked towards the west side of the street where some of my bets friends were jumping up and down yelling my name and generally drunk freaking out. It was awesome. I must have be grinning ear to ear and I cruised up 1st on my way towards my parents/fiance/brother/brother’s gf/’other mother’ who were waiting on 110th. Unfortunately, however, I did miss the fabulous Dori (who I did get to see at the expo in her gorgeous orange t-shirt ) who had this sign:

Boo for missing the sign, but I promised Dori I’ll get her back next year and I won’t rest until I find her!! Annnd finally I saw my entourage family at 110th. My dad saw me first and had my younger brother (along with his sign) run to the rest of the crew to alert them I was coming. I was greeted with fanfare and epic signs (my brother’s girfriend’s appropriately had “toenails are for sissies” since she is well versed in my ‘faxu-nails’ I have had painted on two of my toes for months now during pedicures…) I smiled, waved and kept up trucking into Harlem.  Despite Harlem being part of Manhattan, I’ll give it its own section…

EHa (East Harlem, obvi): I can’t tell a lie. I was ready for this race to be over. When I saw the Robinhood (my charity!) jumbotron, I waved for good measure but secretly wanted to be sprinting towards the finish in Central Park. Lulemon turned out and I got a big thumbs up from someone for my headband. I liked the tequila sign…

Bronx: Like everyone says, this is wildly uneventful and short. The turn out was fine, it didn’t feel empty (or maybe I just dont remember) but I was focused on just getting back into Manhattan and finishing this beyotch marathon. True.

Manhattan/the end: TO BE CONTINUED

Staten Island:

Waiting in the Robinhood.org tent in twelve layers of clothing for four hours was…long. I tried to soak in all of the nervous chatter and energy of seasoned and first time marathoners around me. I knew the experience would be over too soon and I would want to remember ever second of it. As I waited in the tent I imaged the run, I worried, I got excited, I nervously talked too much to the sweet girl waiting with me. But nothing can truly prepare you for what the NYC Marathon has in store for you. When the gun went off to start our wave and Sinatra started crooning over the roar of the helicopters, I saw NYC in the distance and we slowly made our way over the Verrazano. It was the beginning of an incredible journey…

Brooklyn:(Photo credit Carlos Ayala Photography, I found this posted on the Marathon facebook page and since I am in it, I thought it fair to share it!)

The first 1-13 miles were a blur. As we cruised into Brooklyn, I began to think about seeing my parents outside of their apartment at Mile 8. As I approached, I took off my (above pictures) long sleeved grey shirt as I was beginning to get a little sweaty in the sun. My dad was there, but my other family (brother, bro’s GF, fiance and mother) and their crazy signs were not. Strange…but I kept running, knowing we would see my friends boyfriend at mile 16 and my family (all together hopefully?) at mile 18. Fort Greene I have to say was one of the best parts of brooklyn. Although the early 4th avenue was epic and lined with people and bands, running through the beautiful brownstones with people cheering their faces off in a more confined area was ridiculous. Ft. Greene, I have a new respect for you.

to be continued….

Sunday, after 5 months of injury, 4 months of training and countless miles of running, I will be running the NYC Marathon. And then I will make my triumphant return t0 blogging with a full recap and maybe a restaurant review or two thrown in for good measure.

Cheers to that.

And if you live in NYC/speaking of NYC i had to share this.

Heartskiesss to this funny-ness:

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/11/50_reasons_to_b.php

XOXO
S

1. Wedding planning

2. Seeing friends and family

3. Wedding planning

4. Healing my hamstring and getting back on the workout ‘train’

5. Wedding planning

6. Wedding planning

7. Wedding planning

8. New restaurants

Did I mention wedding planning has taken up quite a bit of my time? Perhaps. I liken trying to get married on the island of Manhattan to a war. You’re constantly under siege. I never believed people when they said “Ha, try planning a wedding in Manhattan with less than 2 years.”. I scoffed at the notion. Us NYC-ers can’t be that crazy, right? Wrong.

Me: “Hi, calling to find out if your band is available on XX/XX/XX?”

Band: “hahahha no we’ve been booked for months”
Me: “Hi! Wondering if you’re available to do makeup for my wedding on XX/XX/XX?”

Make up Artist: “Ohh so sorry I’ve been booked for a month now…”

Really people?? Stop stealing my vendors!! I kid. Sort of. It’s been a wild ride.

I think I’m ready to get back on the blogging band wagon, it will be nice to vent about the insanity of wedding planning, but more importantly document my progress towards running…

THE NYC ING 2010 MARATHON!!

Training starts 7/5/10. I will be posting my weekly training plan, progress, tips etc etc. And I will be hoping that seasoned marathoners will weigh in on their suggestions and ideas. More like counting on it…? In an attempt to get my injured hamstring back into running I ran a VERY sweat 5 mile run in Central park this weekend celebrating Pride. Living in the West Village, Pride has always been an important weekend for me. Whether it makes my life impossible a little difficult (we literally cannot leave our centrally located WV apt unless we are insanely strategic since all roads are blocked…) or not, the very notion of a weekend dedicated to Gay rights and rights in general to me is an awesome thing. And one of the reasons I don’t ever see myself leaving Manhattan. Where else can you see a 6’3″ transvestite dressed in a leaf thong? Lurvee.

So as I attempt to get my act together and re-balance my crazy life…

Restaurant reviews to come:

Betel

Marea

Jo’s

XOXO

side note: in order to maintain an adequate semblance of privacy I will not be giving details on the date of my wedding or other ‘exposing’ details. i hope you will all understand