Memorial Day Weekend

This first picture doesn't have much to do with the events of the weekend, but I feel that it's going to be a pretty standard look for me for the next few months. I had a bit of soreness in the surrounding ankle area and it hurt to move my foot side to side. I iced it for a few days and it seems to be as good as new, but I'm definitely going to keep an eye on it so I don't aggravate any latent injuries. I REALLY want to make it to the marathon injury free. I've already purchased my ticket to Utah so I best be running that race!!



My friend Holly came down from Philly to spend the weekend with me. I always have a great time with her. She's my personal makeup artist and I always look a lot better after she's through with me (although this trip I was on my own). We woke up early on Saturday for a run along the Potomac. I had to run 5.5 miles that day and Holly stuck with me for a few miles (she's not a runner, so I was impressed, if not a little bugged because there is no way I could have done that) and we caught up when I was through. She is a FAST walker, she was only a half mile behind me. Holly spent the rest of the weekend walking like an invalid. She said she hasn't been that sore in a really long time. We then went to Target for fun where we found the best treat ever. Frito Lay came out with a new brand of "healthy" chips: Flat Earth. They have veggie chips and fruit chips which are incredibly delicious. There is a half serving of fruits or vegetables in every ounce of chips, so they're even good for you. We tried the tomato ranch and peach mango varieties. They were both so good but I am partial to the peach mango which has a sprinkling of sugar on top. You should definitely buy them.



We then went downtown to celebrate my friend Abbie's birthday at Rosa Mexicanos. They have the best guacamole that they make to order right at the table. Abbie took a picture but hasn't sent it to me yet. I'll post it later. Betsy, Holly and I then walked over to the Portrait Gallery (which I had never visited in the 5 years I've lived here...pathetic). The building itself is gorgeous and the artwork is amazing. We didn't actually look at any of the artwork that gives the Portrait Gallery it's name, but instead saw the modern art exhibits. I will be back!



I wish I could remember the name of the artwork, but here are some of my favorites. This one with the letterpress items was so great. I could have looked at it for hours, there was so much to see.






There were a few video installations, all by the same artist. One, called something like Serenity was a TV with a single white line through the center. Kind of hypnotising if you ask me. The one below was a huge map of the US, with TV's in every state showing video of scenes depicting the state, ranging from movies that took place in that specific state such as Oklahoma, the view from a car speeding down the freeway in Utah and many others, in Idaho all you saw was a video of potatoes, and my favorite, which is shown below, was Washington DC. It is the space between the green and yellow neon lights, and it is a single small screen that shows an image of the person standing in front of the artwork. You'll notice the camera to the left of the screen. I was going to enlarge the picture so you can see that it's me, but I have the original at home and I'm not there right now.

This one was particularly creepy. She looks real, but she's obviously not. I swear I've seen something similar in other museums.

After the museum we both crashed for a while then went to see Waitress. It was a pretty good movie, I laughed a bit, but I was also disturbed when I found myself cheering on her affair. Yikes!! Sunday we drove down to Richmond to hang out with her family. I always have such a great time when I'm with them, they're definitely my east coast family. We had a great meal (I ate veggies for what seems like the first time in at least a month) and just hung out for a bit.

Holly went home Monday and I met up with my favorite crazies for a day at the pool. Here are Matthew and Jakie so excited to get in there and swim.

I tried to take a picture with Jake but he just wasn't having it. I think he was upset that I wouldn't give him money to go play mini-golf.

After swimming I met up with Tara, Lara and Nick for some good ole fashioned fun, mini-golfing. I got several hole in ones, but they weren't enough to keep me from taking third place (out of 4).


And last but not least, documentation of my first sunburn of the season, on my feet no less. How is it that I never think to apply sunscreen there?!

Well there's my recap. I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. I can't believe a new weekend is almost here!!

Wordless Wednesday

Cousins weekend in New York

When my cousin Lauren told Betsy and I that she was going to be up in New York for The Stationary Show, it was a no brainer that we'd all meet up in NYC together. I had some awesome luck on the bus. It was mostly full, except for three unoccupied seats, and I just so happened to be sitting next to one of them. I'm not sure if I had something between my teeth or if I smelled bad, but it doesn't matter, I had a whole row to myself. I got into the city late Friday night and hailed a cab (my very first) to take me to my uncles apartment on the Upper East side. Betsy, who had gotten in earlier that day, met me there and we went off in search for a late-night snack. After some delicious lemonade and pizza, we crashed for the night.

I woke up early the next morning and went out for a run along the East River which is just two blocks from my uncles house. It wasn't easy on the senses, the river smelled like rotting fish on my left and the freeway smelling like exhaust fumes on my right, but it was a good run. Betsy and I took our time in the morning and then headed out for a little shopping. Despite the fact that I had 200 free dollars burning a hole in my pocket I didn't find much. It was more than a tad disappointing that I left New York that weekend with only a new pair of pajama bottoms and some stationary in my bag.

Lauren arrived around 5 pm and after we got her settled we went down to Chelsea to meet Ben for dinner and dessert. We hit this really great Thai fusion restaurant called Room Service. They carried the theme throughout the whole restaurant with random doors splitting up some of the tables, the drinks menu titled "check in" and the check coming in a "check out" folder. The food was delicious and it was surprisingly inexpensive. You should go sometime. The next stop was the frozen yogurt shop Pinkberry which offers a healthy alternative to ice cream. It is literally frozen yogurt, I could even taste the active cultures, in plain and green tea varieties. To make things a little more exciting, you can choose toppings ranging from fruit to cereal. I of course decided to eliminate any chance of a healthy dessert with my topping of choice, oreos. After Pinkberry we stopped at Billy's Bakery (yes this would be our second dessert of the evening) to recreate the memories we shared three years ago, the last time we were all in New York together.

Lauren, me and Betsy

Lauren, me and Ben

This is me contemplating (through my camera) whether or not I should take another bite of my delicious red velvet cupcake. Despite the fact that all I REALLY wanted to do was to unbutton the button on my jeans to accomodate my expanding stomach, I decided that the cupcake was worth it and I finished the whole thing. If you're ever in New York you must go to Billy's Bakery. It's just like the popular Magnolia's without the lines.

On Sunday, Betsy and I went with Lauren to Dean and Deluca for breakfast before she had to take off for her Stationary Show, and then we walked through Central Park. There was a speedwalking race going on which I found kind of funny. Although I promote exercize in any form, I just think people who speedwalk look funny doing it. There were also a bunch of little league games going on. How cool would it be to play baseball with this backdrop?

I thought it was so great. Almost as great as watching my brother in law playing softball between the White House and the Washington Monument. Next time I visit I'm definitely going for a run or two in Central Park.

Bets and I met her dad and brother and the Pugsley family at Isabel's for brunch to celebrate Clara's (Betsy's best friend) graduation from Fordham Law School. I ordered the breakfast burrito which I didn't realize was completely burnt until halfway through I looked at Betsy's which looked a lot more fluffy and yellow than mine. That's how much I know about eggs. Despite the less than delicious meal, the company was great

After lunch it was time to pack up and leave for DC. It was such a blast hanging out in one of my favorite cities and seeing some of my favorite people. I'm hoping this becomes a more frequent tradition.

SPT - What's in Your Wallet

one of my favorite seasonal transitions is to change my everyday purse. i tuck away the dark (p)leather, sensible purses, and start sporting brighter bags. it's cathartic for me to empty out a purse, purge the flotsam and jetsam that has accumulated. a new, clean purse is like a blank page in a journal for me. a summer tote holds more than my wallet and lip gloss, it holds possibility! i am alarmed at how quickly my fun little purse has filled up with STUFF!! as it tipped over on my car seat the other day, i quickly had the urge to snap a photo, to share with you all just what kinds of junk i'm carrying around! perhaps a picture of the contents of my pocketbook will tell you even more than a picture of me! i'll show you mine if you'll show me yours.

Alright Lelly, here's mine:

Let's take a closer look:

Description of contents (for those curious souls): 1 bobby pin; 1 star keychain (still in it's box); 1 extra button to an unknown item of clothing; 1 work badge (featuring a picture of the sta-puft marshmallow); 2 lip glosses (lip medex and Neutrogena Moisture Shine LipSoother, two of my favorite lip thingies ever made); 6 receipts (McDonalds, Friendly's, Starbucks, The Limited (2), Target); 1 movie stub (Waitress); 1 CD (Sounds Eclectic: The Covers Project); 1 tampon (no censoring here!); 1 redbox movie (Dreamgirls); 1 mascara; 1 perfume oil (Smooth Sandalwood, a limited edition from the Gap. It's been discontinued and I will be so sad when it is gone); 1 pack Orbit spearmint gum; 2 ipods; 1 wallet with some money inside (YAY!); 1 cell phone, 1 digital camera (well it would have been in the picture if I wasn't using it); 2 batteries for aforementioned camera); 1 pair of sunglasses; 1 book for poolside reading; 1 tube of lotion; 1 dryer sheet (????); 1 rogue quarter; 1 set of keys.

What do you think this says about me??

Project Marathon

I respect people who run marathons, but I have no interest in joining their ranks. I like going and watching the races, but unless people start betting or handing out cash prizes for finishing in less than six hours there's no way I'd run one. I've watched marathons with friends who get so inspired by watching the stragglers cruising by with bloody nipples that they vow to complete one themselves. In spite of how many Bloody Mary's I've drank during the race, I've never cast my lot along with those friends. I prefer to draw my inspiration not from people who run the marathon, but from the people who charge thousands of runners $75 to compete in a race. It's really impressive to me that so many people are willing to spend their summer on long training runs while abstaining from fun stuff that the marathon organizers need to hold lotteries for big races. Now that's marketing. ---steepandcheap.com daily email guy

Last year, if you were to ask me my thoughts on running a marathon, you would have probably receive a response similar to that of the steepandcheap guy, that you'd have to pay me to do it. Since receiving the news that I will be running the St. George marathon, I have done a bit of reading and have determined that I am absolutely crazy. It's not just a matter of running 450 miles in 5 months in preparation for this 26.2 mile race, which is quite a feat in and of itself, it's so much more than that. I've realized that I'm going to have to make huge lifestyle changes. Because i will be training through the ridiculously hot and miserable summer (the average temperature being the high 80's with a heat index making it feel much hotter), I will have to plan my runs, some which will take me 2-3 hours to complete, to take place during the coolest times of the day, which means I either have to start as soon as the sun comes up or run after dark (which is not the best idea for safety reasons as my mom would be happy to remind me). So since I'm going to have to wake up around 5:00 every Saturday to beat the heat, not to mention the humidity, I'll have to go to bed early on Friday evenings, which doesn't bode well for any social life I might have. In order to actually run anywhere between 3-20 miles at a time, I will have to change my diet dramatically. A diet which currently consists of cereal and lots of hamburgers and french fries will have to be replaced with carbs...lots and lots of carbs, the good kinds. It probably wouldn't be so bad if I liked pasta and rice, but I really don't. It's a good thing you can find carbs in fruits, vegetables and nuts! I think I'm going to have to train my tastebuds to like spaghetti.

I am forever grateful for my work buddy Jake. It is Jake who convinced me to sign up for the Cherry Blossom run, and he unknowingly created a monster. He continues to be supportive and since we both have nanos with the nike chip (best 200 dollars I've ever spent) which not only tracks your pace and mileage, it allows you to make goals and challenge your friends, he has challenged me to see who can run the most miles in a month, a challenge which we will repeat again and again. This alone keeps me running, I want the iTunes gift card that awaits the winner. I can taste it, it's mine, I've got it in the bag.

This is going to be a huge challenge for me. I'm one who likes to take the easy route, to give up at the first sign of difficulty. By training for and completing the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, I've already shown myself that I am capable of more than I give myself credit for, but a marathon is a bit of a stretch. As much as I am terrified for the months to come, I'm excited for the opportunity to again show myself that I can accomplish something, to see something to the bitter end. This coming from the girl who has a million half finished projects scattered throughout her room. Above the picture of my hair on my sidebar, you will notice that I am keeping track of the miles I run. I think it will be cool to see this number grow as the days and weeks go by. I'm excited about this adventure, but I'll be honest, I can't wait for it to be over!!

Wordless Wednesday part II

Fun with Parrish

My cousin Parrish was in Baltimore a few weeks ago for a physics conference (he's a total smarty pants) and decided to head down to DC for a few days to hang out with his favorite cousin (me of course) and Betsy and Amanda. Only kidding, he likes all of his cousins equally. So Betsy and I headed out to pick him up from Union Station, but since he does not own a cell phone, we had to assume that he was on schedule and would be arriving at the predetermined time. Unfortunately he was not waiting in the grand hall, and we had no way to check his status. So three hours, several laps around the building, window shopping, Godiva chocolate and dinner later he finally called to let us know he had made it. We drove around the city a little, where I got this shot of the Capitol. Man I love that building. I feel so lucky to have been able to spend two years of my life working there.


We then stopped by Hains Point to check out our favorite statue, "The Awakening." If you have never heard of it, it is a huge, 5 part statue of a man coming out of the ground. It's awesome!

It really bothers Betsy that people climb all over the statues, so Parrish and I made sure to aggravate her a bit. My apologies for the butt shot. Not the best angle for me :)

Saturday we went into Silver Spring to check out Betsy's office and grab some dinner, among other things. Betsy works at Discovery, home of the COOLEST show ever, Planet Earth. As you can see, they have all sorts of cool stuff in their lobby.

This picture didn't work out so well, but it is me "petting" the wooley mammoth. When I told Betsy I got a picture of me touching it, she FREAKED out. As you can see, we really like teasing her. Silly Betsy, I would never do such a thing!

They have a few of the bikes that Lance Armstrong rode in the Tour de France, pretty stinking cool!
Oh, you know TLC's life lessons? Apparently you can actually buy the little figurines, but I think this life sized version is even cooler!


It was fun to hang out with Parrish a bit, he is such a crack up. We don't see him nearly often enough, since he and his wife live in Austin. Before he left, we gave him something to remember us all by, the stomach flu. Aren't we generous?!

Wordless Wednesday

Lucky Bamboo - RIP

Remember this?

Well I got a little sick and tired of not being able to wear all of my awesome necklaces, so I moved it to my wrist. It wasn't until I was posting this picture of me reading in the car...

...that I looked down and realized that it was GONE! I have absolutely no idea when or where it fell off.

I admit I'm a little sad. Not only did I lose my luck, but I now need a new superstition to buy into.

SPT slacker

My mom just reminded me today that I have been totally slacking on the blogging front and that if I don't kick myself into gear soon I'm going to lose my readership. I sure hope you'll all hang in there and be patient with me while I attempt to get over my slump, because I'll be honest, I love the attention and the comments! I actually have a few things to blog about as I've done a few fun things in the last few weeks, but they require pictures, and I don't have them uploaded yet.

I recognize that I have neglected to post a SPT entry for at least three weeks now, but I promise you (well myself, I'm sure you all could give or take it) that I'll participate next week.

My star shines the brightest

At work today we had the CSS Awards: A Galaxy of Stars, which was basically a big ole party for all of the people who pretty much make things run smoothly in the Tyson's office. We ate a yummy, if not eclectic, lunch, played games like bingo and family feud (where I won a round and got a water bottle) and had an awards presentation to honor those who exemplify our core values, which I can't really remember right now, but they're something like working together, honoring the individual, act with integrity, and something else. I feel badly not knowing these, they are our core values after all. Oh well. Anyway, a few months ago an email was sent around asking people to nominate their favorites, and since I'm freaking awesome, the group I support decided to nominate me. I got a call last week from HR telling me that not only did I receive one (or 10) of the 100 nominations they received, but I won the award "act with integrity." They only told me to make sure I was in attendance, so they asked that I keep it on the DL and to make sure to act surprised when they called my name, so I did. So check out my goods...

I'm loving the star trophy, I'm a shining star!

I also got a certificate, which my co-worker is going to frame. I'm going to put it right between my high school and college diplomas. Only kidding. The best thing about winning this award? Free money!! I'm going on a shopping spree in NYC this weekend! WOOHOO!!

Today was also exciting because I went to the orientation at the Children's hospital. I SO want this! They are limiting the number of people they accept this season due to the fact that they are working with half of their volunteer coordinators, but I'm thinking that I'll be fine. We'll see. So between now and June 19 I'm going to have to go back into DC for an interview, and 4 different times for TB tests. It's pretty intense, but totally worth it!

Practicing my "surprised" face

Today's going to be an eventful and exciting one. I actually don't know ALL of the details, but I have been practicing my "surprised" face as instructed. Check back later in the day for the whole story.

My week in pictures

Claire getting ready for a bike ride. Gotta love those metallic cowboy boots! This is a very Claire expression. She used to make that face a lot when she was a baby (or at least I've seen several pictures with that face).

She looks SO OLD in this picture!

Until I moved to DC, I thought bamboo was only found in Japan!

Showing off our cute sunglasses.

I've been sporting a flower tucked behind my ear quite a bit these days. Thank you lovely azalea bushes!!

I saw a Rolls Royce on my drive home the other day. You don't see that every day!

My week in pictures isn't complete without me doing something other than driving while in my car.

However, I can assure you that all reading was done while at a complete stop.

...although the book stayed at the ready.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

After two false alarms...

If you were here last week, you might remember that I received an email that led me to believe that I had been selected to run the St. George marathon, yet I hadn't. The results were to be posted today, but according to some of the chat boards, sometimes they post the lottery winners early. All weekend I checked, but it seemed that this year they would stick to their promised deadline and not post until today.

First thing I do when I get to work this morning is go to the website to see if they've posted. It turns out that they have. I hesitantly click on the link and start quickly scrolling down to the C's. On my way down I see the name of an old friend from high school, and then I notice that I am getting closer and closer to where my name would be if I was selected. I slow down, trying to prepare myself for the news, good or bad, and find this:

Clarke Jonathan - Trabuco Canyon, CA
CLAWSON ANDREW - SALT LAKE CITY, UT
Clay Christy - Salt Lake City, UT

My brother was on the list, which wasn't a surprise as he had a guaranteed entry, but my name was nowhere to be found, indicating that I was not selected. I admit that I had mixed feelings about this news. On one hand I am relieved that I don't have to start making running and training a huge part of my life for the next 5 months, but on the other hand, I feel like I'm screwed as far as staying in shape goes because I know myself and I know that I need a tangible goal to keep motivated. I shake it off and decide to go through the list again to see if I recognize more runners, just for fun. This time I'm going through a little more slowly, a little more deliberately, and I find this:

Anjewierden Peter - Salt Lake City, UT
Anne Clawson - McLean, VA
Anthony Alycia - Sandy, UT

Yup, sandwiched between Mr. Anjewierden and Ms. Anthony I see ME, Anne...Clawson Anne (spoken like I was Agent 007). It looks like when they did the data entry for my registration form they put my last name first. Yes, I cried, and the reaction is the same. I am relieved that I have a tangible goal to help keep me motivated and to stay in shape (and get in better shape) but I'm also a little overwhelmed at having to make running/training (something I struggle with) a huge priority in my life for the next 5 months.

So, whether I like it or not, 5 months from now I can call myself a marathon runner. Wish me luck!!

Week in Pictures

Here's the latest set of pictures found in my phone. Enjoy!

White baby, a very important part of the family. Katie took this one.

Jake's a total goof! (Oh, and I covet my sisters camera)

He's also very snuggly

Man I'm going to miss this when they move!!

Me taking a picture of katie taking a picture of me

My walkway. I love it in the spring!

My new favorite convenience meal, Smucker's Uncrustables. If you have never tried these you need to stop what you're doing and go to your nearest grocery store to pick some up. Divine!!

Me looking in my rear-view mirror at the hot guy in the car behind me.