The photo of the flat land you see above was taken in Western Kansas. Not exactly my hometown, but close. There is nothing I can do about it, I am a midwest girl – born in Saint Louis, raised in Kansas City, college in Iowa, vacations in Chicago – and everyone can tell. In New York, people go out of their way to tell me I am the most smiley person they have ever met, or that I am too polite, or that I am definitely NOT a native New Yorker. I just don’t think they were prepared for the midwest invasion…

I always wanted to explore the world. I had aunts and uncles who traveled nearly everywhere and I intended to follow in their footsteps, but now that I am away from my hometown in Kansas, I have definitely grown to appreciate it more.

A few of my favorite things about suburban Kansas City:

♥ The wide open spaces.
♥ The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art where I had my wedding reception.
♥ The running/hiking trails, which are remarkably flat!
♥ The large and numerous movie theaters. (without bedbugs!)
♥ Inexpensive real estate.
♥ The Country Club Plaza.
♥ The freedom to drive anywhere and buy lots of groceries!
♥ My family! xoxo

There have got to be more…. what am I missing?!

I think the thing I like the very best about my hometown is just how comfortable it is. I guess that is what everyone would say about their hometown… even if it is bustling New York City!

p.s. I thought I should add, that while a lot of my personality traits could be traced back to my midwest upbringing, there are also a lot of ways in which I am not a typical midwesterner… my religious and political preferences being two of them. I guess it is never quite accurate to stereotype someone, even when the person I am stereotyping is myself!

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2. scary
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Today’s Challenge: Get out of your blog reading rut! Crissy challenged us to visit our three favorite blogs and then visit three totally new-to-us blogs that are outside of our comfort zone.

First, 3 of my favorite blogs:

ljcfyi – a daily blog with lots of photos

[i]LoveLife- an artist’s blog on creativity

Oh joy! – a premier design blog

Now, 3 new (and cool) blogs:

100 Layer Cake – This is a very popular blog about weddings. I got married seven years ago, so I don’t really read wedding blogs, but this one is so beautiful! Lots of design and party inspiration.

This Girl is Losing It – A weight loss and running blog (found via). The author has had a lot of success (lost 38 lbs!) and is training to run a 5k, which is very interesting to me right now as I train for a marathon!

Conversion Rater – So this is actually my friend, Pat’s, blog, but it is a bit outside my comfort zone. It is a tech blog with a focus on online advertising and internet startups and Pat really knows his stuff!

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So, I didn’t move outside of my comfort zone too far, but I have added these three new blogs to my reader and hope to gain a fresh perspective by expanding my blog circle. What are a few other new-to-me blogs I should check out?

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3. BlogHer 2010 – day 1

I am getting old. I can’t remember when this photo was taken. I must have been three or four, still living in Saint Louis, and totally rocking a sparkly unicorn face painting. Where did I get it? Did I request to have this photo taken? Why is my shirt so dirty? It is so funny to think that I lived inside that little girl for years and can’t quite even remember what it was like… Someday will I forget what it was like to be me, now, at 29?

I got this idea of a “30 before 30″ list from one of my favorite blogs, Making It Lovely, and thought it would be fun to do since I am turning 30 in February…

Here are 30 things I would like to do before my 30th birthday:

♥ Redesign the Swap-bot homepage.
♥ Go to dinner at Al Di La.
♥ Get super-comfortable using our DSLR camera.
♥ Run the NYC marathon!
♥ Be noticeably sweeter to my husband.
♥ Take my donation pile to the thrift store.
♥ Visit The Cloisters.
♥ Lose 15 pounds. (Isn’t this on everyone’s list?)
♥ Buy a really beautiful and practical dress.
♥ Make marinara sauce from scratch.
♥ Take an overnight trip with my husband that is not at a relative’s house.
♥ Visit the Bronx Zoo.
♥ Watch every episode of Tosh.0.
♥ Get the Florence + The Machine album on vinyl.
♥ Make Crusher a super-cute Halloween costume.
♥ Try to live in the moment.
♥ Make blueberry pancakes.
♥ Start taking a weekly yoga class.
♥ Figure out how to style my hair in loose waves/curls.
♥ Watch Meet Me in St. Louis again.
♥ Do all of my mending!
♥ Drive upstate to see the autumn foliage.
♥ Make cupcakes with some sort of filling.
♥ Reduce my internal negativity.
♥ Call my brothers and sister-in-law every week (or at least more frequently).
♥ Visit all five boroughs in NYC (should happen during the marathon).
♥ Get a new laptop.
♥ Read a novel. (Maybe this one?)
♥ Reduce the amount of time I spend on Facebook.
♥ Vote!
♥ Promote peace.
♥ Get a unicorn face painting!

What else should I add to the list?

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1. 2010
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Chelsea and I played tourists for a few days. (Like in the photo above – ha ha!) We explored lower Manhattan, including the World Trade Center site and Saint Paul’s Chapel, Soho, Union Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, Rockafeller Center, 5th Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, and even a bit of Central Park. We enjoyed MANY Starbucks drinks and visited three different cupcake shops (Crumbs, Baked by Melissa, and Magnolia Bakery). Yum! The Magnolia cupcake we shared (seen below) was the best – so fresh and the icing was superb!

Chelsea and Scott had to sleep on our couch and air mattress – not the best arrangement, but they didn’t complain. They both even said that they would like to live in NYC! (Although, probably not in our living room on an air mattress.) We had a lot of fun. The time went too quickly!

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1. nyc cupcake review: Crumbs Bake Shop
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3. weekend

1. Oregon Ducks football – We are less than one week from kickoff from what is sure to be an exciting season.
2. Arsenal Gunners football (soccer) – Arsenal has gotten off to a good start this season and a lot of people are saying this could be their year. I think Chelsea are going to be very tough again this year, but with some luck we could edge them out and end the season at the top of the table.
3. Code – I spend most of my day at a computer writing code. I am sure I will come across something that just has to be posted to Tumblr.
4. Pictures & Videos – I just got a new phone that takes video and higher resolution photos. How could I not share them there?

I will try and post to this blog more ofter too. At the moment though, all I can think to write about is my knee. (Its getting better everyday. I went for a seven minute run yesterday. I should be back to running even more in a couple weeks. Thanks for asking.)

Yesterday I had an enjoyable morning completing a 2.5 hour long run with my Team in Training. Enjoyable, you ask? Yes, it really was fun.

We ran over the George Washington Bridge and then through the Palisades Park in New Jersey along the Hudson River. For most of the run I hung out with my running buddy, Lauren (that is the two of us with Jillian above), and we chatted about all sorts of randomness. We took it easy and didn’t worry about our speed. We thought that was the best idea since we had run two races within the past two weeks and were tired of stressing over our pace… So instead of stressing, we just had a good time. Our teammates said that we were laughing and smiling whenever they passed and one of our coaches even suggested that we host a radio show while we run to show others how fun it can be… we MUST have been having too much fun! Despite the huge and numerous hills on the course, I felt great.

We even took the time to do a little photo shoot of us running under the bridge:

So, all of that sounds excellent, right?

After 24 hours of reflection, I am not so sure. Remember two weeks ago after the Bronx Half Marathon when I said I was going to concentrating on improving my running during practices and try to talk less? Ya, I need to keep that in mind.

When I got home from the NJ run yesterday, I tried to map it out to calculate our distance. It turns out that we didn’t go quite as far as we had hoped, which means we were going slower than we had hoped, too. Not terrible, but not an improvement. I am starting to feel frustrated because despite my commitment to the training schedule, I don’t seem to be improving. Of course, I have been increasing my distance, I just haven’t been improving my speed. Perhaps it is too ambitious to want both, but I am tired of feeling like I am made of lead. Plus, I want to be totally prepared for the marathon. I want to feel like I accomplished something on November 7th, not like I just barely made it to the finish line alive. I am re-re-committing to increasing my training efforts!!

To help motivate myself and to give you an idea of what is in store for me, check out this video of the NY marathon course condensed to seven minutes:

Related posts:

1. Team In Training update
2. is this a marathon or social time?
3. one half marathon down…

the blahs…

It has been rainy in Brooklyn ever since my (icky) race on Sunday and it is not helping my mood or my motivation. It is not a good sign when a few days of cloudy weather in August can sap my energy… how will I survive the winter?! Let’s not think about it. Let’s also not think about all of the work I didn’t complete today, or the angry emails I can’t bring myself to respond to, or the stacks of ironing I told myself I would get done. Instead, let’s draw silly rain clouds and drink diet coke! Yes!

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I have an impromptu cupcake review for you today! On our walk home from my road race yesterday, Travis and I came across this CupcakeStop.com truck in Park Slope. The truck was so cute with its pink and blue paint, like it was painted just for me!

I actually wasn’t feeling so great after the run and did not have an immediate desire to eat cupcakes – astonishing, I know – but I couldn’t let a surprise encounter with a cupcake truck pass me by!

We ordered four cupcakes to take home: S’more, Oreo Cookies and Cream, Boston Cream, and the Elvis – a peanut butter banana flavor. The flavor selection was actually quite impressive for a food truck, with about a dozen choices, but not quite as good as what a brick and mortar cupcake shop can offer. The presentation of the cupcakes was reasonably nice as well, with piped icing and some decorative toppings, like sprinkles and marshmallows. And since we were carrying them home, I was especially pleased that they offered cupcake travel boxes!

We waited until evening to dig in and taste test the Cupcake Stop cakes. I tried the S’more flavor first (of course!) and immediately loved the chocolate frosting. It was quite sweet, but very smooth. I also really enjoyed the marshmallow filling inside the cake, but I wished there had been more of it. I continued on and tasted all four flavors, but the S’more cupcake remained my favorite. The cake part of all of the cupcakes was a bit dry – especially in the Elvis – and they were all somewhat small and flat. The Cookies and Cream cupcake had real cookie pieces throughout the tasty icing and the cake, but other than that it was fairly boring. The Boston Cream cake had filling inside, but just barely – probably less than a teaspoon – disappointing.

Overall, the cupcakes were fine. All of the flavors were good – not bad at all – but they just didn’t wow me and they weren’t as “special” as cupcakes from other bakeries, like Robicelli’s. I would visit the truck again if I had a super cupcake craving and it was nearby, but I wouldn’t search it out or make a special trip to the CupcakeStop.com truck.

One of my other (small) complaints is that the CupcakeStop.com company seems a little overly commercial – like it only exists to capitalize on the cupcake trend. But hey, I am writing a cupcake review on my blog, so I don’t have much room to criticize!

CupcakeStop.com was created by Lev Ekster, a recent law school grad, and the company has two store locations and multiple trucks in the NYC area. You can also order their cakes online and have them shipped anywhere in the US for free. They have a Twitter account that announces their truck locations, plus a Facebook page. One last cool fact about CupcakeStop: they donate any leftover cupcakes to City Harvest.

I enjoyed the entire CupcakeStop.com truck experience and am glad I stumbled upon the truck. Have you found one of the trucks in the city and tried their cupcakes?

Related posts:

1. cupcake review: Washington DC edition
2. cupcake review: Sugar Sweet Sunshine
3. nyc cupcake review: Crumbs Bake Shop

Despite my crazy-person smile seen in the photo above, today’s “Battle of Brooklyn” 10 mile race in Prospect Park was killer. I think it may have been my worst long run of the season, and I have only myself to blame. Travis and I took a lovely trip to Rhinebeck yesterday for our friend, Sarah’s, birthday party. (Happy birthday, Sarah!) We had a great time, but I definitely did not eat the correct pre-race foods (instead I had a lot of delicious food, like ribs and cake) and we stayed out very late – getting home well after midnight.

The trip was totally worth it, but I woke up groggy and sore this morning. To make the run even less appealing, it was overcast and rainy out. I am trooper and I made it out to the park anyway. As usual, my teammates were a great source of encouragement. I ran with my friend and running doppelganger, Lauren, and I managed to make it around the park for the full three loops. It rained on us, I was stiff and sore, my previously most trusty pair of shorts caused chaffing issues, and my pace time was the slowest of any of my races so far… ugh. But thanks to my husband and dog cheering section and the encouragement of my coach for the last half mile and my team at the finish line, I completed the run. Thank goodness.

The icky-ness of today’s race really reinforces the importance of race preparation in the days leading up to a big run. Nutrition, hydration, and sleep definitely make a difference. I have recommitted to staying vigilant about those things in the future — especially for the marathon!!

Look at this awesome team:

I have received so many generous donations from friends and family for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through my TNT fundraising page, but there is still time to help me reach my $5,000 goal! Help us find a cure for blood cancers and support families struggling with the diseases.

Related posts:

1. Central Park road race
2. one half marathon down…
3. not much to say

I went to an unconventional Etsy Craft Night yesterday at the @Seaport! space in lower Manhattan. The craft was hosted by Jessica from Miniature Rhino (one of my very favorite Etsy shops) and sponsored by Hancock Fabrics. All of the supplies were provided for us to make nautical-themed embroidery and we even received goody bags with fabric and yarn. How generous!

I didn’t get my embroidery project completed, but I did get some good chatting time in with Lisa and Thais. (Click through on their names to read their excellent blogs.) I also met the two other women at our craft table who just happened to both be named Rachel! We had to take a photo.

As usual, the Etsy craft night was a lot of fun and a great reason to get out of the house and meet new people. I strongly suggest attending one if you live in NYC. If not, you can download all of the project instructions and special coupons from Hancock Fabrics on Etsy here.

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