Updates!

I realized it's been a number of weeks since I last updated here, and before I take off for a long weekend in New Orleans (!!!) I thought I'd prove to the internet that I'm still around by providing a few updates, in bullet formation:

New shoes!

The Quest for #1...

• After a LOTTTTT of trips to Running Fit, I have finally settled into some Saucony Omni's. To anyone in Michigan who's looking for a new pair of running shoes (or really any other running accoutrements), I highly recommend Running Fit. Everyone who works there is super in the know not just about their merchandise, but about running in general, and seemed genuinely interested in getting me the right equipment and not just making a sale.
• I also got some $9.99 earbuds from Meijer after some sage advice from my dad that really, all exercise equipment should be looked at as disposable. These earbuds have definitely done the trick, and I'm ultimately glad I didn't spend $40+ on fancypants athletic headphones.
• I'm signed up for two races in the next few months -- the Shamrocks & Shenanigans 5k on March 11th and the Big House Big Heart 10k on April 15th. I'm also lucky to have awesome friends (shout out to Allie who's doing BOTH with me) to run these with. Matching t-shirts are in the works...
• Thank you SO SO SO much to all my amazing friends who sent me emails, blog comments, Facebook messages and texts with suggestions about running gear. I feel like I might compile a future blog post with everyone's tips and tricks because it really was so useful to me. Maybe I'll do that if I survive Mardi Gras...

Delicious beers at Founders in GR.

Another Michigan day trip...

• So, so many thanks to Heather & Matt for hosting me and Lindsay in Grand Rapids a couple weekends ago. This day (well really, overnight) trip was such a highlight of my winter, complete with a trip to Founders Brewery, the most amazing homemade butternut squash lasagna, martinis at a super nice bar, pickle back shots at an amazing dive bar, late night tacos combined with a photo shoot, and a melt-your-face-off-with-deliciousness brunch. Please come back to Ann Arbor ASAP, H&M.

BIONIC FLOWERS!

Other items...

• On a January 31st trip to Trader Joe's, I decided I'd make February my month of weekly fresh flowers (see: #10). I bought an amazing bouquet, put them in a vase on a side table in my living room, and smiled because a bouquet of bright red and yellow flowers really doesn't make you want to do much else. 
• I did not, at the time, realize that I'd purchased the most bionic flowers on the planet; 2+ weeks later, these flowers are just now starting to lose their luster, right as I'm about to head out of town. So it's looking like March is going to be Fresh Flowers Month, whereby I attempt to purchase flowers that are not made out of titanium.
• I'm planning on checking a few more items off my list during our winter break week in a couple of weeks. If only I thought there'd be snow in North Carolina for #13, because we certainly aren't getting much here in Michigan, at least that is snowman-building worthy.

Alright, now you're updated! I am off tomorrow to laissez les bon temps rouler in New Orleans! If I can't say anything else while I'm in Paris, at least I know that one...

#13: Take a Michigan day trip.

Destination: beer.

I'll be the first one to admit it: I love cheap beer. I unapologetically drink Miller Lite, and I love it. I guess if I was to credit -- or blame -- anyone it would be my friend Anthony, but really, it's just what we drink. To this day, when I see a group of people who prefer anything else -- especially Bud Light, and especially Bud Heavy -- I judge. I know, I know. Glass houses.

In the last few years, however, I've started to expand my horizons a bit. Visits to Pizzeria Paradiso in D.C., including beer-and-pizza tasting events I organized for my old job, made me appreciate craft beers, most notably the verrrrrry difficult to find seasonal Winter Solstice Ale from Anderson Valley Brewing Company. (Seriously, if I've been able to find a place that actually sells AVBC beer, which is rare, they have always been out of the Winter Solstice by the time I get there. This beer is my unicorn.) And when Janet, Tim and Rujuta came to Ann Arbor this summer, we had an awesome day drinking/sweating at the Summer Beer Festival in Ypsi. Something like 400+ beers, all brewed in Michigan. Pretty sure at least some of those were brewed in basement bathtubs, but whatever.

Straw, please.

So in the course of all this, I began to develop actual preferences (which may or may not make any actual sense). I love citrus-y beers that are inexplicably and dangerously as thirst-quenching as lemonade. I love dark, rich porters, especially with chocolate or coffee notes -- which makes no sense because I don't actually love chocolate or coffee. I love beers infused with fruit flavors. And I love Belgian ales made by Trappist monks, particularly from this place. 


I'd heard of Bell's before I came to Michigan, but didn't start really paying attention until I got here. Bell's is located in Kalamazoo, which is basically 2 hours due west of Ann Arbor, and I'd heard from various people you could do brewery tours and get beer samplers and food there. So I threw out the idea to a few people to do a Sunday Funday there, and boom, a day trip was born.


Josh, Ariel, Trevor, Allie and I piled into my whip and hauled out to Kzoo to the tune of Childish Gambino and The Glenn Miller Band (surprisingly complimentary). We got there with enough time to spare before the tour to enjoy a beverage, and I picked a beer called Raspberry Wild One, which they only had on tap at their restaurant. It. Was. DELICIOUS. Not super sweet, a little sour actually, but light and refreshing at the same time.

Pure Michigan.

The tour was actually quite interesting, led by a girl named Sarah who both works at Bell's Eccentric Cafe in their kitchen and apparently has quite a burgeoning enterprise home-brewing ciders. We learned about all the essential components of beer: hops, yeast, barley, water and kitten tears. We learned about how small things -- the mineral profile or temperature of the water, the amount and type of grains, for example -- can drastically influence the beer. Apparently there are a bobillion types of yeast, but Bell's only uses one or two, which is what qualifies them as producing a true "family" of beers. Wow, I literally and figuratively drank the Bell's Kool-Aid, huh?


Side note: there's a performance area attached to the brewery/cafe at Bell's and GUESS WHO PLAYED THERE THE NIGHT BEFORE? THE VERVE PIPE. That is all.

Lots of beer on tap.

Other fun stuff we learned: Larry Bell is still alive and kickin'. Which I guess makes sense since he was like 23 when he started brewing and that was in the mid-80s. Oh and they currently only serve their beers in kegs and bottles but are starting to can their beer, so summer 2k12, Oberon cans are happening. And Bell's is the largest craft brewery this side of Colorado! Seriously, can someone at Bell's pay me?


After the tour we went back to the Cafe to sample some of the delicious beers we'd heard so much about. You get 6 beers in a sampler, and can pick from anything they have on tap (see chalkboard picture). I got the Porter, the Cherry Stout (not on the board, but I asked nicely), the Milk Stout, the Sparkling Ale, Hopslam and more of the Raspberry Wild One for good measure. They even served it in wooden cut-outs shaped like the state, which was a lovely, festive touch. 

The beer was terrible,
we didn't drink any.

The beers were amazing, but my favorites (aside from the raspberry one which we've already established is the bomb) were definitely Hopslam and the Cherry Stout. The stout was sour and rich, but in the best possible way. And the Hopslam is a really strong, fragrant beer with lots of hops. I didn't think I liked hoppy beer, but Sarah assured me that I may just not like certain types of hops. She was right. Hopslam is the best.


Speaking of Sarah, she and our other tourmate Paul joined us for our meal and samplers, and we ended up getting a lot more information about beer, home brewing and Kalamazoo in general from them. We got one last round of the beers we'd figured out we liked the best (I went with a combo of the Raspberry Wild One and the regular Wild One). And Sarah even fetched us the last few bottles of Hopslam over in the General Store to take home before they sold out.


So even though we didn't get to see much else of Kalamazoo, I'd go back in a heartbeat if it meant I could have one more sweet sip of the Raspberry Wild One. Miller Lite will always hold a special place in my heart, but now Hopslam holds a special place in my fridge.

The Quest for #1: Help Wanted!

Thanks to the very handy internet countdown clock feature (which I have been using overzealously lately for my graduation date -- 104 days, boom!) I know that I've got 52 days until I register for the Marine Corps Marathon and 287 days to actually get ready to run it. NBD.

So, I've run 2 half marathons before, but even though I joke that those combined equals a full marathon, I fully appreciate (and have heard from many people) that training for and running a full marathon -- all 26.2 miles at once -- is a lot different. I've been running a few miles on the treadmill a 3-4 days a week to ease into an actual training routine, cross-training with spinning, and doing some weight training (I AM SUCH A JOCK!). But I really need some inspiration and suggestions because lately I've been feeling like running 4 miles is great, but HOLY CRAP I HAVE TO RUN A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN THAT.

Since it's in my nature to obsessively prepare for things, and since I know a lot of you are runners, I figured I'd seek out some advice here. Any and every piece of advice/nuggets of wisdom you have, I'd totally appreciate. Of particular interest are these topics:

• I need new running shoes. I'm planning to go to a fancypants running store in Ann Arbor to get fitted in the next few days, but would love to go in armed with some knowledge bombs. I used to wear Adidas running shoes that I loved, then got a new pair (same shoe though) and they gave me terrible blisters.
• I also need a new pair of headphones for running. The ones I have bounce out of my ears and really squash the rush I get from my sweet jams. Any recommendations?
• Have you run a marathon before? Did sticking to a particular training schedule help?
• Was it helpful to do other races during the training period? I'm thinking about a 10k in April and a half-marathon maybe in July.
• Have you ever worn those FiveFingers running things with the toes? I don't think I'm interested, but I'm extremely curious because they look like the equivalent of a very uncomfortable toe wedgie.
• Running music! I like my beats quick 'n heavy and my lyrics vaguely unintelligible (see: Rihanna's "we fell in love in an office space"). Any suggestions?

So if you have a moment and any pearls of wisdom, email me, Facebook, send me a comment, a text, carrier pigeon, message in a bottle, sky writing, whatever. 

#30: Officiate a wedding

They vested me power!

It all started in April. After one too many specialty cocktails made me wax nostalgic about love and friendship at our friend Courtney and Rich's gorgeous Florida wedding, I jokingly asked my friends Nick and Erica whyyyyy I hadn't been dispatched to make more speeches at our friends' weddings. I was throwing around words like "destiny", "cherish", and "a lifetime of happiness", things I rarely say non-ironically when not watching an episode of The Bachelor. I am clearly neither subtle nor eloquent when there's an open bar nearby.

Fast forward to late June. After attending a conference in Boston, I stayed through the weekend to visit the contingent of GW friends (+ significant others) who've settled there, including Nick and Erica. After an all-day pub crawl of the bars on Boston Harbor, we retired to their beautiful Beacon Hill apartment where, after inflating the Aerobed and rehashing the day, Nick and Erica asked me to officiate their wedding. Were they drunk? Were they joking? Or had what I said at Courtney and Rich's actually made them think I could handle this? They assured me they were indeed sober and serious.

Without hesitation, I said yes. I had no idea what to expect, but I think that was part of what made the idea so exciting. Over the next few months, we discussed loose plans for the ceremony: they gave me the general format (processional, welcome address, song, etc.) and sent me their vows and what they wanted to say when they exchanged rings, but with their blessing they let me otherwise take the reins and write the ceremony. Without their input. And they didn't want to hear it until the actual wedding. I think Joey Lawrence said it best on Blossom: whoahhhh.

So then school happened, and work, and life, and 4 other out-of-town weddings this fall. I did some light research -- emailing Nick and Erica's friends and family members for their input, writing down some choice quotes at other weddings, and soliciting scripts from friends who've also officiated -- but otherwise I put off writing the ceremony til after the semester was over. 

At home over winter break was when the panic really set in. I wrote furiously, then went back, edited, doubted, rewrote, and finally felt satisfied with the ceremony. But then, with more spare time on my hands, and the wedding just a couple weeks away, I started ruminating about the occasion. About the fact that my friends had enough confidence in me that they'd be willing to let me stand in front of them and everyone they know and love, and perform a marriage ceremony that they had never read or heard before and say words like "authority" and "vested" and then make them put on their wedding rings and then kiss and stuff. This...this was a big deal. 

HITCHED!

In fact, at the rehearsal dinner last Friday, I expressed these thoughts to Nick...how humbled and honored (and I don't throw those words around lightly) I was that they trusted me this much. He said how surprised he was that I didn't need any time to think about it after they first asked me in June, and I realized, as nervous as I was, I never for one second considered not doing it. That's the great thing about trust and friendship...when someone gives it to you, you just want to do the best and be the best that you possibly can, without thinking. And then, like now, I started getting all sappy and philosophical, except at the rehearsal dinner it was worse because once again, there was an open bar involved.

As for the actual wedding, it was amazing and personal and perfect and so Nick and Erica, from the song choices for the ceremony, to the slider bar set up during the reception (I still am thinking about those pulled pork sliders with cole slaw), to the beautiful and hilarious toasts, and to the groom's cake in the shape of a Boston Red Sox baseball hat.

And as fun as it was to get ready with Erica and her bridesmaids beforehand, to toast at midnight with all our friends, and dance and eat cake and celebrate, the thing I'll never forget came before the champagne bottles popped and the ball dropped. It came as I stood at the front of the room watching Nick watch Erica walk down the aisle, both of them having never looked happier, calmer and more at ease. I realized how lucky I was to be standing there, both literally and figuratively.

The ceremony itself went very well, eased immensely by the first joke I made where people actually laughed (and I, subsequently, relaxed). I think the calmness that Erica and Nick were radiating was contagious, because once we got into the rhythm of things, it felt really fun and easy. Quite a few guests asked me at the cocktail hour if I was planning on a second career as an officiant, and I told them that the joke's on them -- I don't have a FIRST career! So maybe, after I graduate in 113 days (but who's counting?), I'll throw caution to the wind, move to Vegas and open up a wedding chapel. Who knows, this Creverend act may have staying power.

What a crazy, memorable and awesome way to close out 2011 and start up 2012! I've had some pretty awesome New Year's Eves in my time, but this one takes the (key lime and raspberry Sox hat) cake. A huge thank you to Nick and Erica and their families for letting me be a part of their special day, and trusting me not to royally eff it up. And if you, dear readres, ever find yourself in need of some High Priestessing, you know where to reach me. I work for free (as long as there's an open bar involved). Happy New Year!

Pub crawling in Boston with the bride and groom.

#28: Bake and decorate a cake from scratch, including the icing.

I've heard a lot of people throw around words like "therapeutic" and "cathartic" to describe baking. But I've also seen enough Top Chef episodes where the cockiest award-winning chefs who've just whipped up crispy pork belly gremolatas with microgreen and conch fritter-scented foam reductions (those are words I've learned by watching cooking shows) are reduced to tears at the mere suggestion that they need to make a simple berry tart. 

I am nothing if not succinct.

Takeaway: baking is hard, yo! As a fan of "freestyle cooking" -- compile a bunch of ingredients that sound pretty good together, apply heat when necessary, then slather on condiments liberally -- the precise nature of baking has long scared me off. Don't get me wrong: I can whip up a Funfetti cake with the best of 'em. But up until this week, I'd never done any solo baking of the non-Pillsbury kind.

So basically, this 30 Before 30 item was a no-brainer to include: I've never done it before, it requires little planning beyond a special occasion and a trip to Meijer, and cake is straight-up delicious. So with winter graduation coming up, I decided to bake a cake to celebrate with the "Dip Party" ladies, three of whom will be MSWs in mere days. (Yes, we have parties involving dips, and lots and lots of wine, and they are amazing.)

I scoured the Internet (read: Pinterest) for recipes, and settled on a blue (not red) velvet cake with a maize cream cheese frosting. Yeah, my school spirit runs deep. There were lots of recipe variations, so I picked the one that was accompanied by the most delicious-looking photographs from Bakerella. I made my list, trekked around the store procuring the ingredients, picked out some pretty killer 9-inch round cake pans in the kitchen section, lamented about how being an adult must mean getting that jazzed about new cake pans, remembered that I had also bought, but not really worn, an awesome new ruffle-y apron a few months ago, again lamented my now apron-induced adulthood excitement, and then went to sleep. It was a big night.

Fast forward to the actual baking of the cake, which surprisingly wasn't too bad. Take that, Top Chefs! Several coworkers had suggested sifting both the all-purpose flour (for the cake) and the confectioners sugar (for the frosting) before measuring it out, because that can often yield different measurements. I must say, I felt VERY Martha Stewart-y sifting the flour. The cake recipe suggested that, after filling the cake pans with the mix, I drop them several times onto the counter to remove any air bubbles. This was probably my favorite part of the process, as it was very loud and stress-releasing and it really did pull out a bunch of the bubbles. The cakes baked for about 35 minutes, and then cooled for a bunch of hours before I dared frost them. Meanwhile, the smell of freshly-baked cake permeating my apartment was really sensational, and probably enough reason to continue any baking endeavors.

Making the frosting was slightly more difficult, due mostly to my janky handheld mixer that I'm pretty sure my junior year roommate accidentally left in our apartment when she moved out. I had let the butter and cream cheese reach room temperature for most of the day, so they combined well, but the mixer plus the powdered sugar made me rull glad I had an apron on, because that shit went everywhere. Seriously, my kitchen looked like an outtake from the movie Blow.


Eventually I gave up on the mixer, made like Ice Cube and put my back into it, hand-mixing my own frosting and adding the yellow dye until it was the maize-iest shade of maize I'd ever seen. I frosted the middle layer, then the top and sides with not much trouble, aside from wishing I had a cake stand. I used the blue decorative frosting I'd bought at the store (the only non-homemade part of the cake) along with some blue sprinkles that were kicking around my spice cabinet and badda bing...a cake was born!

I am grateful to the lovely graduates -- Kate, Sara and Carryn -- and other celebrants -- Renee, Jodi and Valentina -- for indulging in the "look at the caaaaaake, you guyyyyssss" requests that were both annoying and inevitable, and for joining me to eat, drink and celebrate the end of the semester and, for some of us, the end of graduate school. And the bonus was, the cake itself turned out great, if I do say so myself...it was moist (yeah, I know you hate that word) and flavorful, and the frosting was creamy (yeah, I hate that word) and rich. 

So while I'll always love a Funfetti, I think we all agreed that there really is nothing like the taste of a homemade cake. And to actually successfully pull together a pretty delicious cake from scratch...well, that tastes pretty darn good too. Nom nom nom.

Yay graduates!