Kind of Amazing!

I might have mentioned a few dozen times that I have a super cool running friend that tortures gets me through my long runs on the weekends. He is kind of awesome - super fast [jerk], super elite [double jerk] and super knowledgeable [fabulous!]; it's like having my very own personal trainer [he is studying nutrition after all]. He pushes me to become a better runner and shares in my crazy goals.

One said crazy goal is to do the Goofy Challenge [in a nut shell - the Goofy Challenge is at Disney World and you run a half marathon Saturday, full marathon Sunday. Same weekend. Yup. Insane] - not right away, mind you.. but eventually. Joey [said running friend] is of course all for it because it means I will actually do a marathon [craaazy] and wants to start training yesterday. We've talked about doing it in 2015 - the earliest I think I would be ready [it's held in January] and I am sure his mice wheels are already spinning.

Spinning so much in that he signed up for his very own version of the Goofy Challenge this September! See he had been looking for a marathon to do sometime mid summer and enlisted my help. I found a few options - and one of which has the option to run the half on Saturday and full on Sunday. Crazy man went ahead and signed up. Say it with me- C-R-A-Z-Y!

I am so excited for him - it's going to be hard, insane [especially since he is going to try to get a personal record for the full] and probably leave him very famished.. but I know he can do it. He is just crazy enough to pull himself through.

So come Labor Day weekend I'll be either cheering him on or running my own challenge [10k/Half] and rooting for him at the finish line... Until then, I bow in his epicness.

 

MAKE THAT I'M NOT WORTHY!

Do you have any friends that just.... amaze?

Parental Guidance: My review!

I am a Billy Crystal fan - City Slickers, Monsters Inc, When Harry Met Sally - all movies I adore. I even saw him once at Disneyland!! So when I saw that he had a new movie coming out I knew I had to go see it. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see it in the theaters, but it shot to the top of my Netflix list when it came out on video.

 

SOURCE

The basic story is this: Billy Crystal and Bette Midler play husband and wife - and absent grandparents - who get invited to watch their grand kids while their daughter and son in law go out of town. The parenting style is very different - very old school versus new school and most of the laughs come from Crystal and Midler's characters trying to adapt and respect [but ultimately undercutting] their daughter's way of parenting.

The Good:

Crystal shines here in a character that was tailor made [literally - he wrote the movie] for him. He is charming, yet stand off-ish and has plenty of one liners. Midler also plays her character to a tee- it was nice to see a true team with Midler and Crystal; while Crystal is obviously the more seasoned comic I felt that Midler still got her share of the laughs. And I could buy them as a married couple- they had great chemistry. And I have to say I love Marisa Tomei in this movie- she is neurotic, overbearing, yet adorably sweet and secretly insecure. 

The Not So Good:

The movie does do a lot of ripping on new age parenting [removing don't and no from a parent's language for example] and technology. Some of it is warranted and some of it is just a difference of opinion. If you are someone who is "new age" I can see where this movie might get on your nerves. Luckily for me I have no kids so I was able to appreciate it for what it was - comedy.

Overall Grade:

I loved seeing Crystal back on the screen and I don't think he has lost a step. He was funny without being rude, gross or degrading. Something that is rather refreshing these days when most comedies go for the stupid humor. My grade? A-.

Have you seen Parental Guidance? What did you think?

Favorites Friday: Comedy Edition!

We all love a good laugh, right?! I know I do. This Friday I will share with you my five favorite comedy movies. Enjoy!

Friday

 

SOURCE

I am going to get you high today... Because it's Friday - you aint got not job and you aint got sh*t to do! This is the first movie I saw on my own that I realized was going to be a favorite. 8090 views later, it is still very very funny. My best friend and I throw out quotes like they are a part of regular conversation [I need to borrow your VCR right quick] and

Couples Retreat

I am a huge Vince Vaughn fan. There is just something about his goofy nature and quick wit that makes me fall head over heels for him no matter what movie he is in. Wedding Crashers, The Watch - but there is something about Couples Retreat just makes me swoon more than usual. The Guitar Hero scene? Totally reminds me of my goofy husband.

Beetlejuice

I will somehow find a way to make this movie find its way onto every favorite movie list... Because it is just the ultimate movie. Hilarious, about the undead and Michael Keaton as the star? Yes please!

Robin Hood: Men in Tights

 

SOURCE

Mel Brooks is a comedic genius - I think that goes without saying. I love his spin on the classic Robin Hood tale - and Cary Elwes is kind of dreamy as the singing, fighting, tight wearing crusader. The constant musical numbers and one liners make the movie very entertaining indeed.

Sex and the City

I love the ladies from New York City and after being a devoted fan of the show for years I was super excited for the film version. Luckily for me, the film was pretty good and full of laughs. It was refreshing to see a group of women be strong, hilarious and in control of their lives. 

What are your favorite comedies?

Iron Man 3: My Review!

Last Friday the hubs and I went to see my most favorite actor in the world in Iron Man 3. I had been excited about this movie ever since I saw the teaser months ago. To me, Robert Downey Jr is Iron Man. There is no one else that play him as well and as lovable as RDJ. I was also curious how they were going to work in the Avengers story since number three takes place after the events of the most awesome movie of last summer.

 

SOURCE

Because I am all about being spoiler free I will keep the details of movie on the down low. Basically there is a new villain terrorizing the country, and Downey's Stark is trying to recover from the events in The Avengers. Other than that, you will have to go see the movie.

The Good:

Um.. Robert Downey Jr?! His Tony Stark is just... amazing. Perfect mix of jerk, genius and hero you can't help but laugh at his antics and root for him. He is also a believable Iron Man because he is vulnerable - not something you see very much in super hero movies. Some of the background characters get a bit more screen time in this story, which is interesting to watch and doesn't feel too forced.

The Bad:

I am not sure how I feel about where they went with the villain story, but I am also not a hard core comic book fan so I don't know the story/mythology behind every character. Sorry!

Overall Grade:

I think this was a good closing chapter on the series. I know Marvel will probably continue on with the franchise for as long as they can make money, but I don't think anyone could do it any better than RDJ. The way the movie is set up makes it seem like it could be a nice final chapter, but who knows. I really enjoyed watching Stark come back as the underdog and fight for reasons other than ego. My grade? A-.

Have you seen Iron Man 3? What is your opinion? 

San Francisco Divas Half Marathon - Recap!

On Sunday I ran my second half marathon in Burligame through the Run Like A Diva running series. This is another female focused half marathon and the "gimmick" is that you get a tiara and boa right before you cross the finish line and get your medal handed to you by a sexy fireman and get to enjoy a rose and a glass of champagne to toast yourself. And the medal is huge. I am all about big bling and had heard from my husband's cousin that the race was pretty fun and very flat so it would be easy to get a PR [personal record]. I knew I had to sign up immediately!

Not wanting the stress of driving down the morning of the race, the hubs and I decided to stay in town and thanks again to his cousin, knew exactly where we needed to stay to be close to the start. We headed down Saturday afternoon and went straight to the Health and Fitness Expo. The Expo started Friday and I have read that this company has a few kinks it still needs to work [running out of things like tech shirts, having the wrong sizes ordered, misprinting on the shirts, etc] so I was worried when we arrived on Saturday afternoon to pick up my stuff. Sure enough, they did not have my ordered size shirt [what was the point of putting in my size?] and said I could either pick another size or put my name in to have them send me one later. Lame move number one. I tried on the size smaller and it was a little snug, but it was also over another shirt so I went ahead and kept it.

 

AFTER THE SMALL EXPO

The goodie bag was an electronic version so picking up my stuff was very quick - a bag, bib and shirt. The expo itself was very small, but I was still able to score some magnets and a license plate holder. After the expo we checked into our hotel and decided to have dinner early. We headed to a local Italian restaurant - Sapore Italiano to carbo load. This restaurant was very good. The serve their bread with this smoky tomato sauce: delicious! I kept it simple with pasta and tomato sauce and the hubs got some sort of sea food pasta dish. We split dessert and then called it a night. 

 

YUM!

Of course I got about five hours of sleep and soon enough it was time to get up and get dressed. I think I was too excited to realize how tired I really was and focused instead on making sure my bib was straight and that I had all my gear. After we were all dressed, the hubs and I headed towards the starting line. I found my corral and a 12 min/mile pacer and decided I was going to be really crazy and try to stick with her during the race [my original plan was to do 12:20/mile - oops?]. We took some pictures towards the front of the line and before long it was time to start!

 

SO EXCITED!

I was pretty calm and collected until they started talking about Boston. That is when my damn emotions kicked in and I had to fight back some nervous tears. Then miss Hudson sang the National Anthem [that girl can sing] and we were off!! I was thinking of nothing but a PR, so I have no on course photos for you guys - sorry! I stuck pretty close to the 12 minute pacer when I looked at my watch and realized she was running 11:30's - and there was no way I was going to be able to stick with her and survive the race. So after the first mile I backed off - I kept her in my sites, but also wanted to finish the race standing up. I was definitely going faster than normal - hitting sub 12's for the first ten miles and was looking like I was going to blow my goal of 2:35 out of the water. I hit the 10 mile marker at exactly 2 hours [woo hoo!] and that is when everything started to break down. I hated everything - the world, running, my body, the people around me, every song that came onto my ipod- everything! I was dying for a third Gu [a note to remember for future halves] and just wanted to be done. I started to slow way down. I think mile 11 and 12 were 12:02 and 12:20, respectively. Then - at about 12.67 miles [I know that because I kept staring at my damn watch wanting it to get to 13 much faster!] I thought I saw something... Or someone. I waited for the lady in front of me to bob the other way and that is when I saw them - my running buddy Joey and his brother Chris had made the drive to cheer me on! Suddenly I found some sort of gas in the tank and stepped it up [I knew I had to make Joey proud!] and put everything I had into that final half mile. I grabbed my boa and tiara - threw em on and booked it towards the finish line. Suddenly I hear my husband screaming my name and I waved to him and tried to smile as I crawled [though it felt like I was flying!] towards the finish line. I looked up, smiled brightly for the photographers and then headed straight for the medic tent for some ice.

 

SO... TIRED!

 

BUT CROWD SUPPORT MAKES ME HAPPY!

 

I WAS COUNTING DOWN UNTIL I COULD WALK!

 

HAPPY TO BE DONE... WITH A PR!

I sat on the lawn and iced my knees for a few minutes as I devoured my free food - bagel, oatmeal raisin cookie, water and a glass of ginger ale [I skipped the champagne]. Eventually the hubs and friends made it over to me and we took some celebratory pictures before it was time to hit up breakfast. 

 

HALF NUMBER TWO!!

Okay, now for my review. I will preface this by saying that I am a newbie to the running game and therefore have no real experience on what to expect. That being said - here it goes.

The Expo:

It was small [I can only compare it to Tinkerbell, which was huge but I have read from others that it truly is on the smaller side] with limited samples and booths. I also did not like the fact that they had run out of my size shirt with a 2 day expo. Again - what was the point of me telling you my size if you weren't going to order enough anyways? I also did not care for their official merchandise- extremely over priced [expected at an expo] and poor line management [they had such a long line that people were crowding the merchandise, making it very hard to shop]. On the bright side, it was so small that I was able to get in and out very quickly!

The Run:

The course was very simple and pretty flat. It went through a couple of business parks, residential areas and parks before finishing along a marsh. The crowd support was minimal [sad day!] but again, I was jamming to my music and focused on a PR, so I didn't really care that much. But I know some runners feed off of that - if that is what you need to run, skip this one. The aid stations were okay. The first one had only two people manning the station and they were behind the tables of water, trying to stretch to give the runners their cups - deadlock city. Also they had been saying for 5-6 miles that the water would be the first table, gatorade the second. So around mile 9 when I was in dire need of electrolytes, I skipped passed the first table to find that they had switched it and the gatorade was at the first table - NOT OKAY! Aid stations need to be consistent in order to help relieve traffic [and honestly - runners get in the zone and do not want to have to think about where to get their water or gatorade.. at least this runner doesn't!]. The Tiara and Boa station were well manned and easy to get through - which made me happy seeing it was damn near mile 13 and I just wanted to be done. The photographers were easy to spot [most were on ladders in bright yellow suits] so I knew when to look up and smile and the finish line was great - blazing music and a medic tent right as you cross, before you even get to the medals. I enjoyed the sexy firemen who were giving out the medals - and they were very nice, congratulating all the ladies on their accomplishment. I also enjoyed the freebies - rose, bagel, oatmeal raisin cookies, bananas [although they were on the last leg and I ended up throwing mine away] and champagne. I skipped the massive line to have my official picture taken - mostly because my hands were full and I was tired and wanting to do nothing but sit down. They had plenty of port a potties at the finish [and a decent amount along the route] and a couple of freebies as you left the finisher area [score!]. And of course- the medal is pretty awesome. Nice and heavy just like Tinkerbell. 

Overall:

I think this company is fairly new at putting on events, so I will give it a few breaks. I think you get a good deal for your money [again - comparing it to Tinkerbell!]. I didn't care for the e-goodie bag because the coupons were lame and usable primarily in Burlingame only [whack!]. I was annoyed about the shirt and the aid station issue, but overall I think they did a pretty good job. I'd give them a B. I don't think I would run it again - but that is more because I already have the bling!

Have you ever run a Divas race? What did you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Japan Recap- Day 5: Living with the locas!

Our fifth day in Japan coincided with our niece's very first day of school. In Japan there is a welcoming party of sorts where the children and parents meet their teacher, find their class room and receive their books. My brother in law invited us along for the experience and we had an amazing time. While I took 45894551 pictures of my niece, I am going to semi respect my brother in law's privacy and post very few pictures. Just enough to make you  jealous you don't have an adorable niece like mine.

 

PRE CEREMONY - MY BROTHER IN LAW, NIECE & HUBBY

 

AFTER SHE GOT TO MEET HER TEACHER

It was interesting to watch how the Japanese put school first. The mayor of the town was present and made a speech about the importance of education [if I remember correctly - it was translated by my brother in law]. The town where my brother in law lives is very small, but I still thought it was an important symbol that the mayor took the time to come to a school and welcome the students on their first day. You would not see that in the states. 

After the ceremony we got a tour of where my brother in law lives and got to meet his students in the afternoon [my brother in law is a teacher of sorts in Japan] where they performed for us and practiced their English. We finished out our day with dinner and a train ride back to Osaka. It was a long day [train ride wise], but we had such an amazing time it was all worth it. Plus my niece was so well behaved that I was so proud and could not wait to come back to the states and brag about her. Go Yui!!

Up next: Kyoto!

Tired.

Good morning blogging friends!! As I type this post I am sitting in my office with a big ol cup of jo, trying not to move suddenly so that my muscles don't creak in pain. I pushed myself very hard yesterday - but it was very worth it. I finished my second half marathon in 2:37:05 - at least 10 minutes faster [if you believe my Garmin] than the Tinkerbell Half. I am very proud of said achievement and very thankful for an awesome running buddy who has continued to push me for the past few months. I can't wait to see how fast I am come October [my next half!].

For now I leave you with a picture of my fireman and my medal. A full recap is in the works!!

 

COURTESY OF RUN LIKE A DIVA PHOTOGRAPHER KATTY PERAZA - AINT HE GORGEOUS?

What is your funnest running experience?