to be her is surely blinding

Well friends, I did it! Today was my second 10K and, true to my previous post, I finished. And I PR’d (1:18:36, off a little more than 4 minutes from my last 10k, or about 42 second a mile)! No one stopped me for directions. And, I did get brunch afterwards, and Dunkin Donuts, and also a turkey sandwich for lunch later from our favorite Santa Monica sandwich spot.

Overall the race wasn’t too bad – the weather was beyond, my playlist was out of this world (Thanks Cor and Lauren!) and I was feeling it with all the running and yoga prep I did. Plus, being surrounded by other runners and supporters doesn’t hurt!

BIG thanks to Mike, who not only LET ME BORROW HIS SUNGLASSES FOR THE RACE (which is like, a really big deal here in the bright + beautiful LA) but also waited for us to finish, stood around while we got drinks/water, and also took a million photos for us!

More photos to come, but here are a few:

 

10k

dunkin

 

yankee swap success

For the past four years, we’ve been hosting a Yankee swap for friends in Los Angeles. A few weeks ago, we had our fourth annual swap. It caused me to look back on years past and remember our four Christmases on Mansfield.

Our first Christmas tree in Los Angeles.

We’re all sitting on the floor because we didn’t have chairs or furniture yet. Those two in black got engaged that night.

In 2009, the hot gift was the slanky (aka the fake snuggie) of which there were two to win!

The 2009 tree, in all its glory and all its Yankee Swap gifts.

2010 brought presents that people were VERY excited about…such as coloring supplies.

And mustaches for all.

2010 also brought another lovely tree.

2011 brought some new faces.

And some exciting gifts.

And a baby tree to replace the big ones that always seem to leave a trail…

2011 marked our fourth yankee swap, and I’d say it was an overall success. Here’s to a fifth anniversary next holiday season, but for now, a Happy Holidays to everyone off in their own corners of the country – I miss you, LA family!

Christmas at Camp Waterloo

Christmas rolls. From the joy of cooking — a really good recipe, although Bailey ate half of them, and after a few days they were a bit hard.

The Christmas star!

The Christmas Jax! We get these every year, because you can’t buy Jax in Michigan, and they are our favorite cheese doodle.

This is Barefoot Contessa’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake.

This is the strudel for the coffee cake. In my opinion, this strudel could stand to be doubled, to add a more delicious layer to the cake.

This is a lake, by my sister’s fiance’s cottage. There are bikers on the lake….Jon assured me that it’s frozen enough…I wasn’t so sure.

I stopped to take a picture of this farmhouse. It was pretty. I don’t know who lives there, but they probably think I am creepy.

We played a lot of cards.

We had some coffee. With friends. We laughed. We gossiped. Some friends are forever.