35th Birthday!

Hello, friends! Yesterday was my 35th birthday! Since this birthday was kind of a big deal, I decided to take the day off from work for the first time in my life. Yup, that is correct. I had never taken the day off for my birthday before. Is that crazy?

Gus surprised me this morning by making a huge mess in his crate, which I had to clean up. I finally got out of the house to enjoy my free birthday Starbucks. I got a venti iced latte and a chocolate croissant. I was all comfy with my iPad but the store was so cold that I left after I finished eating my croissant. Boohoo!

I headed back home and took a leisurely walk with my pups. Two happy guys!

Then it was time for some relaxation with a 90 minute Swedish massage at Massage Envy. 

I was starving at the end of the session so I headed to Nagomi for a seaweed salad and tuna, yellowtail and salmon donburi. Yum!

Then it was back home to let the puppies out and do some at-home yoga.

I made a run to Target and then to a newly opened boba tea cafe. Rustic Bubble Tea Cafe is so cute! Looks like a great place to relax and enjoy a drink and snack. It reminds me a lot of the boba tea cafes in California, which Albuquerque has been lacking.

Wednesday night is softball night for us, so we headed out to play. Unfortunately, we lost, but I did get a base hit. Woohoo!

After the game, our team captain surprised me and the rest of the team with birthday cupcakes! So sweet. A few of us also went out to dinner afterwards.

Mmmm...red velvet! Do you like my crazy Union Jack leggings?

I had a nice, relaxing day and cannot believe that I am now 35. So scary.

Weeks in Review (July 8 to 21, 2013) + Birthday Recap

It's been another two weeks of busy-ness! I celebrated my 33rd birthday and my little brother and his fiancee came to visit for the weekend. Lots of distraction from half marathon training so AGAIN, I didn't put in the miles that I needed to over the last two weeks.

My birthday brought lots of fun times courtesy of my lovely husband. We saw Camera Obscura and She & Him at Wolf Trap on the Thursday before my birthday. It was my first time seeing a show at this venue and it is amazing! Such a great setting, and both bands played great sets.

Camera Obscura at Wolf Trap

She & Him at Wolf Trap

On Friday, Raisin Bread planned a surprise evening for us. After work, we went to Urbana for happy hour oysters and dinner. I ordered the roasted brussels sprouts and the tagliatelle with sea urchin butter, mussels and leeks.

Oysters and dinner at Urbana

Then it was off to the big surprise! The Book of Mormon at the Kennedy Center. I have been dying to see this musical and it was impossible to get tickets on the day they went on sale. It was a fun, ridiculous and hilarious show and a wonderful night! 

On my birthday, Raisin Bread had another surprise in store. One of my favorite dinners ever: King crab legs and corn on the cob. Followed by a fruit tart. So yummy!

I had a fantastic birthday! Earlier this week, I visited Gettysburg and hung out with my brother and future sister-in-law this weekend, as I mentioned. More on both of those later.

My workouts these past weeks:

July 8 to 14, 2013
Monday - Ran 1.98 miles
Tuesday - Pilates Chair - 45 minutes
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - The Biggest Loser 10K - 5.6 miles (recap here)

Total yoga this week: 0 times
Total mileage this week: 7.58 miles

July 15 to 21, 2013
Monday - Daily Burn - Yoga Hip Flow (1 hour)
Tuesday - Daily Burn - Cardio Sculpt (30 minutes) + ran 2.9 miles
Wednesday - Pilates Reformer/Jumpboard - 50 minutes
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Ran 2.6 miles
Saturday - lots of walking around DC
Sunday - lots of walking around DC

Total yoga this week: 1 times
Total mileage this week: 5.5 miles
Total mileage this year: 202.14 miles

Happy Monday!

Urbana
2121 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my ninth 25th birthday!! Happy birthday to me! If you're bad at math, that means I'm turning 33 years old today. Scary, huh? 

To mark this special occasion, I spent some time looking for photos from birthdays past to bring you a round up of my most memorable birthdays, so here they are in order of occurrence.

1981 - My first birthday

I was too young to remember it, of course, but look at that cake. My mommy made it for me. Isn't it awesome?

1982 - My first birthday as a jetsetter

I've celebrated quite a few birthdays overseas, and this one was my first. We traveled to Hong Kong this summer, and the trip coincided with my birthday. My parents started me off as a world traveler from a young age.

Mom, cousins, sister and me in Hong Kong

1986 or 1987 - Birthday Party at McDonald's

I'm not sure what year this was, but my brother was in some of the pictures as a baby so I'm taking a guess that I was turning six or seven. I remember begging my parents to let me have my birthday party at McDonald's and they let me! Oh, what fine taste children have!

I have to jump 15 years ahead now because I couldn't find any photos from junior high or high school where I'm sitting in front of a birthday cake. Unfortunately, I grew up in the age before digital so if the photo didn't have a date stamp or a birthday cake in it, I couldn't tell for sure if it was a birthday photo.

2001 - 21st birthday at Knott's Berry Farm

I was a good kid in college, so no binge drinking for me on my 21st birthday. Let's hang out with Snoopy instead!

2005: My (actual) 25th birthday at San Diego Comic Con and then off to New Zealand

When I lived in LA, I attended San Diego Comic Con on three occasions. I planned on attending the one in 2005 months in advance. Then, suddenly, a week or two before, I learned that I would be leaving for New Zealand that same weekend! What's a girl to do? Drive down to San Diego on Friday night and celebrate with my sister, attend one day of the con and drive back to LA on Saturday, and catch a plane to NZ on Sunday to go Canyon Swinging and glacier hiking! 

2006: Family and a Friend's Wedding

This one gets to be in the round up mostly because I miss that cake! It's the famous Paradise Cake from King's Hawaiian Bakery. *drool* We used to get it all the time for family celebrations. Also, my friend's wedding was the same day as my birthday, so I will always remember her anniversary!

2008: All the single ladies!

There was a time in my mid- to late-twenties when I went out A LOT! This was during that time. I am glad I have grown out of that racket! 

Birthday at Bar 107 in Downtown LA

2009: Hiking the Narrows

Raisin Bread and I started dating in January of 2009. For my birthday, he surprised me with an early birthday gift: a road trip to Zion National Park. We went hiking on one of the coolest trails of my life. For more on it, read my recaps here and here. 

2011: Painting and Bermuda

For my first birthday in DC, Raisin Bread surprised me (he loves surprises, in case you didn't notice) with a painting class and then a quick trip to Bermuda! For more on that, read my recap here. 

So many great memories! Here's to many many more amazing birthdays! 

Question: What are some of your most memorable birthdays?

Posted with Blogsy

Week in Review (June 17 to 23, 2013) + Dinner at The Liberty Tavern

Image credit: someecards

Sometimes I feel like these "Week in Review"s are exactly like the image above! So if you feel the same way, I apologize, but it also serves as a great accountability tool for me.

This was the first weekend all month that I have been at home for the entire weekend. I was able to get so much done. It was also Raisin Bread's 37th birthday on Friday, and he got to have not one, not two, but three birthday dinners! Yes, I spoil my husband. I'll get to birthday dinner #1 in a second, but first, my week was full of great workouts. I finished my 6 mile training run, so I feel pretty confident about running The Biggest Loser 10K in a few weeks.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: Daily Burn: Hip Flow Yoga (60 minutes)
Wednesday: Ran 2.9 miles
Thursday: Daily Burn: Full Flow Yoga (60 minutes)
Friday: Ran 2.7 miles
Saturday: Ran 1 mile + 20 minute arm workout
Sunday: Ran 6 miles + Pilates Chair (30 minutes)

Total yoga this week: 2 times
Total mileage this week: 12.6 miles
Total mileage this year: 180.97 miles

We had a birthday eve birthday dinner for Raisin Bread on Thursday night. We chose The Liberty Tavern in Clarendon because Green Pig Bistro didn't have any openings. On this night, the service was totally off. Our server asked us if we wanted any appetizers, and we asked to see the cheese menu. He then took the remainder of our order and then proceeded to give us the cheese menu just as our entrees were coming out! Who does that? So we decided to just have the cheese for dessert.

I ordered the Prosciutto Pizza with Parma ham, mascarpone, Parmigiano, arugula, rosemary and preserved lemon. The lemon really made the pizza sing.

Raisin Bread had a half order of the Spinach Tagliatelle with prosciutto, peas, pecorino, crème fraiche, basil and mint, followed by the Arctic Char with mustard spaetzle ragu, fennel, peas, asparagus and preserved lemon froth. I had a few bites of the pasta, and it was really rich and yummy. I especially liked the peas.

For our cheese course, we had the Smokey Blue and the Cabecou Trufee. After our cheese plate arrived, we both noticed that the table next to us was looking at our table and whispering. We both thought it was because the Cabecou Trufee was SO STINKY!!! It turned out they were looking at us because they wanted to order cheese as well. *whoo* I liked the saltiness of the Smokey Blue, but maybe the other one was a little too complex for me or maybe it was just the smell, but I couldn't eat much of it.

Apart from the terrible service, we had another enjoyable meal at The Liberty Tavern. For birthday dinner #2, I cooked a meal of brown rice fusilli, ground turkey, baby portobello mushrooms and spinach. Finally, birthday dinner #3 will need its own post because it was a multiple course extravaganza at Sushi Taro, my favorite sushi in DC.

Happy Monday!

The Liberty Tavern
3195 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201