Archives for May 2017

May Favorites

May 31, 2017 filed under: monthly favorites

1. One thing I always miss from home is ‘multivitamin juice’, a blend of a few different kind of fruit juices (and I admit, I am a bit picky!). In the past, I was never successful finding something similar here in the US (most juice blends were thin and watery punch-like concoctions), but I recently came across R.W. Knudson Simply Delicious Morning Blend and it’s delicious and relatively thick juice and the closest I’ve come to finding something similar to the juice from back home.

2. In an effort to switch it up, I picked up a different kind of trail mix from Trader Joe’s a few weeks ago and I really, really like it. Happy Trekking Trail Mix has almonds, cashews, pistachios, cranberries, cherries, and little dark chocolate drops. It’s the perfect mix of nutty and sweet for an afternoon pick-me-up!

3. I love the illustrations by Holly Nichols and fell in love with this iPhone7 case. Isn’t it perfect?

4. Did you know it’s baseball season again? I am so excited. What’s your favorite team? J and I are Red Sox fans and we subscribe to MLB.tv, so we can access all the games! Go Red Sox!

5. I had a bottle of Frühsport (the non-alcoholic, ready-to-drink version of a Radler — beer with sparkling lemon soda) when I was in Germany and that is exactly a beverage that I love during the summer. Thirst-quenching and refreshing.

6. Are you using the Ibotta App to earn cashback on your grocery purchases? If not, you should consider it. It’s super-easy to use, you just scan your store receipt and match the offers and then you’ll get a nice bonus reward in form of a gift card or Paypal payout. You can sign up here (and get $10 after your first purchase through my referral link).

What was one of your favorite things in May?

Davis Pride Run for Equality 10k

May 30, 2017 filed under: friends, fun!, running

The weekend before last, I participated in the annual Davis Pride Run for Equality 10k again. If you recall, I ran this small local race last year for the first time and it’s the 3rd time they’re putting it on.This time, my dear friend (and running buddy!) Susi signed up as well.

We met at 8 a.m. at the registration table, used the rest rooms and warmed up a bit. It was already quite warm.

The race was pretty small with just about 200 participants. 146 ran the 5k, 50+ ran the 10k race. Still, it’s a nice race for a good cause and I was happy to participate.

The run started at 9:10 a.m. and it was all pretty casual. I wanted to run a good time, but since I ran this race as part of my half marathon training, I didn’t worry too much about pace and just tried to run by effort. The course was a mostly flat, easy path through parks and neighborhoods.

I made it back in what my watch told me to be well under one hour, but I wasn’t sure what my actual time was going to be as race tracking was a bit weird (they made the 10k runners start from about two blocks of where the 5k runners started and there was no separate time tracking pad, so I am not sure how they figured the time). I had to wait for the official results.

I got some water and then waited for Susi at the finish line. I was super-proud of her for running the race with me, as she said she hadn’t really been running lately and definitely hadn’t trained for the distance. She still ran the race and didn’t come in last! Sometimes it’s all about participating ( ← her own, very true!, words).

At 10:45 a.m. the Pride Festival started and the winners in each division (1st, 2nd and 3rd male and female in each the 5k and 10k race) were announced. We had just settled down with water and some fruit on the lawn to hang out for a bit.

Imagine my surprise, when I heard my name, all of a sudden. Now you won’t believe this, but I won 1st place in the female division of the 10k. Whaaaatttt?!

Last year, there was this super-speedy 13-year old that snagged 1st place with a time of 44+ minutes, so I had no delusions about placing, let alone winning the race this time around. Turns out though, the speedy people decided to stay home that day which gave someone like me a chance of coming in first at 54:19 (official PR, baby!).

Granted, there were only a small number of participants (and only 22 other women ran the 10k), but still. I felt stoked! I beat my time from last year by over 4 minutes, so I’ve definitely worked my butt off over the last few months and it paid off.

I got a fancy medal and then we enjoyed the festival and performance of the marching band for a little bit, before heading over to Crepeville to get some well-deserved brunch. I had an apple crepe and orange juice for my post-race meal (and devoured it before I could take a picture. Naturally.).

Moral of the story: do the work, run small races and you might actually get the chance to win a race and live to brag about it.

Linking up with Erika, Patty and Marcia for Tuesdays on the Run again.

Currently | May

May 26, 2017 filed under: currently

feeling giddy about going to the The Total Package Tour with New Kids on the Block (most excited about!), Boyz II Men (very excited about) and Paula Abdul (marginally excited about).

eating boiled potatoes with herbed yogurt dip. So good!

listening to NPR. That’s pretty much all I listen to at the moment during my 15-minute commute to work.

watching the German News shows, Tagesschau (‘Day’s Show’) and Tagesthemen (‘Issues of the day’) of the German public-service television network ARD (via YouTube). Did you know that the daily German News are only about 15-30 minutes long? The news are presented by one single host and (s)he presents the ‘issues of the day’ in a very neutral, matter-of-fact way. No emotional comments, no guests on the show that analyse, interpret, discuss or comment on the news, just the simple, known facts. I found that a refreshing contrast to the more elaborate news magazine style here in the US.

reading I’ll give you the sun by Jandy Nelson.

shaking my head about the news from ‘the orange man-child’s’ first trip abroad. I mean, could one behave any more like a bull in a china shop?

enjoying walks around the park.

working on being diligent with my cross training as part of my workout routine. Strength workouts, squads, planking. Do you crosstrain (as much as you should)?

loving my new ankle boots that I got in Germany and which I won’t be able to wear until fall – haha!

looking forward to the semi-long (for me) Memorial Day weekend. Since I am working today, I am not getting the superlong 4-day weekend that I would usually get around holiday weekends, but hey, a 3-day weekend is still a nice long weekend and the temperatures are supposed to be pleasant (the delta breeze has cooled down the valley significantly this week!).

drinking all the coffee.

What’s going on with you in your corner of the world?

24 hours with my bff

May 24, 2017 filed under: friends, girl time, home, travel

As I mentioned, at the beginning of my Germany trip, I spent 24 hours near Munich visiting my best friend from back home. She moved to Munich a couple of years ago and I had yet to see where she now lives with her husband M at Lake Starnberg.

I first flew into Frankfurt and then on to Munich where she picked me up at the airport. I hadn’t seen her in over a year and I was so glad to finally hug her again. Instant chatter ensued. I mean, we talk on the phone regularly, but there is always so much left to say!

We first drove to Starnberg and she and M showed me around. We ended up getting drinks and cake at Orange Beach, a beach bar and restaurant right on Lake Starnberg. We were super-lucky because the sun came out when we arrived.

We seriously had the best time just catching up and enjoying the views!

Later in the afternoon, we drove over to Ira’s home and even though she had previously sent me a video tour of the house, it was so nice to finally see it with my own eyes. The whole house is set up in “split levels”, which I love, and the guest room (where I was staying) is on the ‘third’ floor with a beautiful view of the lake and the Alps in the distance.

We took a walk through town and down to the lake and Ira showed me where she does all her daily routines (where she shops for groceries, where she runs, where the pharmacy and doctor is, etc.). You might think that this is ‘boring stuff’, but for me, to know and see where my best friend lives her daily life now, brings me a lot closer to her.

For dinner, we went to their favorite Italian place in Starnberg, ‘Al gallo nero’, where I indulged in delicious tomato soup (my favorite!) and authentic spaghetti carbonara. Yum.

Strangely enough, up until then, my jetlag had held off and I first noticed that I was starting to get tired when we got back to their house around 10 p.m. We chatted for a little while longer and then got ready for bed around 11 p.m.

The next morning, I was up early. For weeks, Ira and I had tossed around that weird idea that we should go running together when I visit. Of course, both Ira and I also didn’t really think that this was going to happen this time what was with the little time we had and my (very possible) jetlag.

We agreed that we would just play it by ear and that we would go for a short run on Saturday morning, if I felt up for it.

I know, some of you are probably shaking their heads wondering if we have gone mad or something, but for Ira and me, it was a heartfelt wish to be able to run together, to be able to do something ordinary together (pretending we could do that every fine goddamn day!).

So, when Ira texted me from downstairs at 6:30 a.m. (“Are you up?”), I enthusiastically responded (‘YES! Do you want to run?’), so we got dressed and headed for the lake shortly after 7 a.m.

It was a beautiful morning! We ran 5 miles along the lakeshore and to be honest, it was the best hour out of the roughly 24 hours we got to spend together. We chatted away, we passed Schloss Possenhofen (you must know that Ira and I are huge fans of the ‘Sissi’-movie-trilogy, the movies about the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and the castle used to be Sissi’s childhood home) and enjoyed the amazing morning view of the lake and the Alps, and we couldn’t shut up about the fact how special this moment was for both of us!

M picked us up at Steg 1 in Pöcking later and after a quick shower, we had an amazing German breakfast with fresh rolls, bread, croissants and pretzels, eggs, deli meats, cheese, and jam. It was just the best. I think Ira was a little irritated (jokingly) how much I praised the breakfast, but let me tell you, you appreciate things way more when you can’t have them for a while. Just sayin’.

At 9:30 a.m., my Mom called to confirm my flight number and arrival time with me again… because she couldn’t find my flight online. Weird.

Well, turns out, I booked my flight home to Cologne for May, 4th… which was Thursday. Ahem.

I have no idea how that happened and I guess, I could have freaked out about it, but instead I laughed it off (my family, too) and Ira was all smiles anyway because it meant I was going to be around for a few extra hours. Win-win!

I looked into options of rebooking my flight (the train wasn’t an option on such short notice) and then spent a couple more hours hanging out in Iras backyard. We really made the best of the time we had together and it almost felt longer than just 24 hours. The best part was that it felt so comfortable and easy to be around Ira (which is something that I do miss here, as I don’t have any local super-close friends), but it shouldn’t come as a surprise as we’ve known each other for most of our lives. Old friends are the best friends.

At 2:30 pm, I boarded the plane to fly back home and was greeted by this beautiful city view of Cologne and then my Dad, Greta and Tom who picked me up at the airport. Home is where the Dom is.

Here and there

May 22, 2017 filed under: this and that, travel

Hello strangers. I am back from my overseas trip and – as always – am incredibly emotionally jetlagged. The general feeling of “blah, what am I doing here?” has yet to completely fade away and this always translates into a rather sluggish re-entry into my routine and daily life here in CA. I know from past experience that this will get better, but the first few days…? Tough shit.

I did have the best time though, and I am happy to report that I almost checked everything off my Germany bucket list. Sometimes, I just run out of time, but it worked out well this time, despite the fact that this was a rather short overseas trip for me (I usually try to go for at least two weeks what with the long flight and all.)

I didn’t make it to the downtown market with my Mom on Saturday morning (bummer!), but I got to attend one of my nephew’s soccer football matches instead, which was a special treat. I’ll take it.

I’ve been trying to catch up on you guys’ blogs over the last few days, but it’s been a bit overwhelming, to be honest. My Feedly reader had 1000+ unread blog posts upon my return and I had to make the tough decision to skip anything older than 2 weeks. I hope you forgive me. I usually hate doing that (because what if I miss something really important?), but for my own sanity, I had to be brave this time.

I hope May has been treating you well so far.
I’ll be back with some recaps and regular posting pretty soon!

May Link Love

May 19, 2017 filed under: link love

Around the Interwebs

Escaping Poverty Requires Almost 20 Years With Nearly Nothing Going Wrong… which is, nearly impossible.

The surprising benefits of being (slightly) crazy.

Do you need an excuse to be lazy? Here it is: The psychological importance of wasting time.

What a heartbreaking, but beautiful story.

Are you a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kinda person? Turning negative thinkers into positive ones.

Breathtaking! Timelapse Video Captures Rare Full Cloud Inversion Inside the Grand Canyon

27 jokes about running that will make you laugh, then cry.

For the geography geeks like me: Images of International Borders from Space

Record-breaking winter in Lake Tahoe. BEAUTIFUL. I love that place.

Around the blogosphere

Eating like an athlete: why I eat everything. 100% agree. YES!

I don’t usually adhere to “blogger do’s and don’ts”, but I still thought these tips were useful.

Andi knows and has written about San Francisco extensively. I love her expertise and have consulted her blog for a visit in the City multiple times: My San Francisco guide

I loved Courtney’s perspective on the German vs. American healthcare system. Food for thought, maybe?

I’ve been dabbling in using alternative products for skin care and household uses and here are some good examples. 3 Zero Waste Products, 15 uses.

Craftiness

Weightless crocheted produce bags – what a neat idea!

Deliciousness

Rhubarb Cobbler – I love rhubarb!

Can’t go wrong with Chicken Teriyaki.

Granola bark. Mmmh!

Share a good link with me in the comments!

Six weeks into half marathon training again

May 12, 2017 filed under: fitness, running, sports

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I started half marathon training again. I’ve been consistently running the last few months, but without any real purpose. I mean, I wanted to keep up mileage and – as I said at the beginning of the year somewhere – incorporate more cross-training, but this was it. This is what I did for the last few months and I was itching for a little more purpose. I just do much better if I know what I am training for, don’t you?!

I ran (and/or am signed up for) a couple of 5k and 10k (some of them virtual) races and a ‘progressive half marathon in May’ (ever done one of those?) and I haven’t really ‘trained’ for those distances specifically. BUT I have also officially signed up for my next half marathon and that’s a good excuse to structure my training a bit more again.

I’ll be running the 1st half marathon at the SF Marathon in July, which will be my 2nd half-marathon overall. Wait, what? I know, it’s confusing.

In case you don’t know, the SF Marathon event offers two half-marathons which – run back to back – make up the full marathon. Last year, I ran the 2nd half from Golden Gate Park to the Embarcadero (the race profile is a little less intimidating and the start time was at a more reasonable hour around 8 a.m.), but this summer I will run the 1st half from the Embarcadero to Golden Gate Park. I am so excited, because the 1st half goes over the Golden Gate Bridge! The race profile is a little bit more challenging and race start is earlier (around 6 a.m.), but think I am up for it. Who else will I see at the start line?

Here’s a course map:

There is the full marathon (DARK BLUE) and the two half marathons. The 1st half marathon in YELLOW and the 2nd half marathon in LIGHT BLUE.

I try to chose my races wisely and I don’t know if I’ll get the chance to run another HM this year (hopefully though), but I am looking forward to going back to SF and collecting the extra Half it all challenge medal for running both halfs in consecutive years.

When I trained for my first half marathon last year, I was terrified. I mean, when my friend Susi suggested we sign up, I was totally up for the challenge, but I also had an immense respect for what we had just done. I knew deep down inside that I could finish the distance… somehow. But I didn’t just want to finish. My goal was to ‘run’ the whole damn thing without stopping. I know this is silly, but my goal was to be able to run for 2+ hours. No walking.

What I really liked about the training plan (I used a Runtastic training plan put together my former olympian Dieter Baumann) is that it chopped up the training into manageable pieces and varied the training throughout the weeks with easy runs, intervals, speed training and long runs. It completely took the guessing out of it, as you simply do what’s on the training schedule without thinking about it twice. I like that (there is less of a chance of) skipping or talking yourself out of a particular training session when you can stick to a plan (although I do want to mention that life does get in a the way sometimes and it’s not the end of the world if you skip or switch around a couple of sessions here and there, as long as you are persistant).

Last year, I didn’t know for sure if I was ready for the race when race day came around (pre-race jitters are normal, right?), but I had heard it from a lot of people again and again: trust your training. If you put in the work, you can do the race. And that was the truth.

This time around, I already feel a lot more confident about the training and what awaits me at the start line. I am following another training plan through my Runtastic app and so far, it’s been going great and I’ve hit all my training marks, even when I thought of them to be challenging. This should be a good sign, am I right? I also love discussing my training efforts with my Dad (who is a retired P.E. teacher, in case you don’t remember) and it’s awesome to have him support and cheer me on (and also hold me accountable) throughout the process.

What are you training for right now? What’s your favorite training plan to follow?

Recipe | Farfalle with Italian sausage + ricotta cheese

May 10, 2017 filed under: recipe

Sometimes we get into the habit of cooking the same things over and over again, so you might recall that one of my goals for last month was to try a few new dishes. We tried a few, but this one stood out in particular and we have made this again twice (which is a sure sign that this is a winner!).

What I love about this recipe is that there is not much sauce or anything, but the ricotta cheese and lemon juice make this pasta dish really creamy, yet light. The Italian sausage and pepper give a nice bite to it. It’s ready in about 30 minutes and therefore also a great weekday dish (because I refuse to do elborate meals that take more than 30 minutes after a 10+ hour workday!)

I can imagine that this recipe can be easily modified and switched up by using other veggies (like mushrooms or broccoli) and maybe some cherry tomatoes when we go into summer.

[yumprint-recipe id=’12’]What have you been cooking? Share a good recipe with me!

May Favorites

Davis Pride Run for Equality 10k

Currently | May

24 hours with my bff

Here and there

May Link Love

Around the Interwebs

Around the blogosphere

Craftiness

Deliciousness

Six weeks into half marathon training again

Recipe | Farfalle with Italian sausage + ricotta cheese

Blogging through the COVID 19-crisis: Are you ready to ditch the mask yet?

Tuesday Topics | When the world goes to hell in a handbasket, or why I caved and finally got a Peloton

Where did the time go?

3: Things you didn’t know about me

Currently | June

The day I met Jon

A snapshot of my day | 8/10/2021

CURRENTLY | October

Tuesday Topics | 2021 mid-year review

6: The 6th annual Secret Santa (Mug) Swap