Lucky Lady!

Since these last couple weeks have beens stressful - Eric convinced me I needed to get a good run in yesterday, so we hit the Monday run for a nice 4.5. After we got home and I got done with my shower, I heard something in the kitchen.

...it was Eric, cooking our delicious Mahi Mahi. He saw how stressed I was yesterday and just started cooking it while I was upstairs - probably the best gift he's ever given me. And it tasted amazing! We had it over lettuce and some steam fresh veggies + rice (recipe below).

Had a great lunch with Stacey yesterday - I can't wait for her and Kev to close on their new home in Dilworth -- fingers crossed! She and I were trying to plan for the weekend, but are waiting to see how rainy it will be - a nice hurricane throw-back to my FL days.

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1 clove garlic, crushed or to taste
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 (6 ounce) mahi mahi fillets
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

1. In a shallow glass dish, stir together the honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic and olive oil. Season fish fillets with salt and pepper, and place them into the dish. If the fillets have skin on them, place them skin side down. Cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes to marinate.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from the dish, and reserve marinade. Fry fish for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, turning only once, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fillets to a serving platter and keep warm.
3. Pour reserved marinade into the skillet, and heat over medium heat until the mixture reduces to a glaze consistently. Spoon glaze over fish, and serve immediately.

Here's a nice little snapshot of how great Saturday was out on the Lake:

Hiatus Complete

Was a nice little break from the blog and the overall internet. Have completed/started a ton in the last couple of weeks. The garden is in full swing and producing some yummy cucumbers already. The green and banana peppers as well as tomatoes are green and fresh. We installed a drip hose too - helps conserve water and waters directly on the plants. Another great Eric idea.

The second end table is complete [finally]. Also the cute chalkboard for my kitchen is in the final stages -- pictures to come! I'm making all the use I can out of the scraps at the Ranch :) Not to forget the great help from Momma Frank - my first dress is complete too! A rather simple project with her sage help via Skype on a Saturday. 9 Billion awesome points to my mom.

This weekend is jam packed with a visit from my best best friend, an engagement party for Brad and Wen, and boating on Lake Norman with a gaggle of friends.

Take Me to the Chapel

Can't wait to watch these 2 lovebirds tie the knot this weekend - I have my hanky packed for tears as I watch this lovely lady I've been so blessed to know marry her prince charming.

Check out more of their engagement photos here.

Off to Florida we go.......

I Know What You Did - WALTER!

I know you stepped on my flowers, Mr.! They better be alive and kicking when I see them next ....

Great weekend consisting of eating lettuce from the garden on Saturday night with our Stuffed Peppers for dinner followed by a game of Scrabble (don't mock it, Scrabble is a lot of fun).  5.5mile run with tugboat on Sunday where she only tugged a bit -- getting better with age i suppose .. or the longer runs!  Rounded out nicely with dinner at Copper after the boys had a day of golfing.

This Week:

• Friday - register for the One-Mile run at Icehouse
• Saturday - One-Mile run uptown at 730am
• Saturday - dinner at Pinky's with Wen/Brad then off to Amos Lee!
• Sunday - Easter Mass followed by a yummy ham for dinner :)

Thankful

I am thankful I take the train and am not sitting on the highway like everyone on my new team -- what an awful night of storms.

Slow week - Tugs was a little under the weather after our nightly 5K yesterday. She's more of a high of 70 fan than 80 deg at 5pm. First "official" day with my new team was yesterday, and it was fantastic. Tonight I was strong armed into drinks with my old team as a "farewell." There goes yoga.. sigh.

Friday there are plans in the making to celebrate Tudor closing on his house -- YAY! I'll post more details later this week, thinking Revolution in NoDa.

O U C H

Tough loss last night for FL yesterday and very sore legs today from my first [awesome] Bikram class at Yoga Oasis.

Great News - Jalepenos have sprouted at casa de emily! Lilies might bloom soon too. Eric and I spent friday night transplanting the cucumbers and tomatoes to the "big boy" pots. The 2 days of rain we've had should help the garden a ton (and the rain barrel). I'm VERY excited to hear how much Walt harvested with his homemade gutters :)

It's going to be a busy week with the Clothing exchange tonight at Molls' house and leaving for Cooper on Thursday.

Off to get a run in before the rain starts again...

Le Sigh

I'm not sure any two people could look more in love than Brad + Wen.

I'm still drooling over her outfits.

Happy Thursday.

Let Me See!

Yesterday was a great day with a nice run with Molls before my first class at Yoga Oasis with Matt and Molly. Le Sigh.

This Week:

• FL vs. BYU Thursday at 7:20pm (TBS) - who wants to watch it? .. pStone after a nice 4mile run?
• Saturday - Neil's Birthday BBQ at Lake Wylie ... Thanks Sarah for the note. I'll shoot out an email to everyone with the details when I get into the office.

WELCOME TO 25 NEIL :)

How to:

... get to your goal weight ...
     Have a stomach bug all weekend. FML.

Even though my tummy wasn't happy - Sarah and Mike threw and awesome BBQ on Saturday and Brian Regan was a hoot on Sunday.

Ryan Huff ran a redic 6:18/mile 4 Miler on Saturday -- as Patty Waddy nicely put, "How do you keep getting faster since you're getting older?"

Who is interested in running Sticks and Bones on April 9th?

Upcoming:

• Neil's Birthday (Friday)
• Clothing Exchange @ Molly's (Sunday)

#WINNING

Beer Mile Male and Female champs - Jim set a course record with a 7:18 blazing pace and Terri wasn't too far behind around 8min.

Jim wanted to make sure we all knew that this was their "cool" pose and that the "old folks kicked ur asses" with an avg age of 45.

Was a great couple of days ... now off to check out the garden and get some trails in before MIKE AND SARAH'S TONIGHT :)!

Celebrate

Brad and Wen are engaged! It's turning out to be the year for weddings with Emily and Odis in May and Brad and Kacey sometime late this year [or next]. Couldn't be more thrilled at the news :)!

..they also had an excellent BBQ last night at their adorable home last night.

Eric/Huff/Tudor/Kev and crew had amazing runs Saturday (1/2 Marathon). Big thanks to Stacy putting up with monster puppy (aka the #1 Barking Fan) and I traipsing around town cheering everyone on. Sails pushed up her milage to 7.5 on Saturday - very proud of her! She got more "HI SAILOR" calls than Stac or I did ... humph. Guess she's a celebrapuppy. Shout out to Kev for his 1:27 PR ... way to go ... you're a mere blurr on my camera.

Eric and I got a LOT done on the garden (pictures to come). Carrots, Broccoli, Spinach, and Lettuce are in the ground. Tomato's (3 varieties), Peppers (Sweet, Banana, and Hot), Cucumbers, and Squash are all germinating now as well. E won the battle with neighbor-Mike's tiller and got the compost/10-10-10/soil mixed in with the [awful] Carolina clay. I have a new appreciation for the dirt I grew up playing in.

Itching to get to the weekend and have another fun filled time @ Mike and Sarah's.

Beer Mile prizes for Thursday have been acquired as well as some fab volunteers.
And...thanks to Molls, I have 5 yoga sessions at The Yoga Oasis to use --- feeling very lucky and more open a. Thanks for the sweet/thoughtful/awesome gift, Molls!

365 Days Later

Big Announcement - I've officially got a new job as of 4/1. Very excited to join my new group [still at BAML, but in nicer digs @ the corporate center] and sad to leave me awesome teammates. But, my window cube is going to someone very brilliant, awesome, and deserving.

So much on the horizon this year, and it's only March. I am truly thankful for all the wonderful friends here in Charlotte [and elsewhere] and how much we have all been there for/with each other over the past year. Thinking back to Beer Mile last year and now this year...what a difference!

Big shout out to Tud on being under contract on his [almost] home. Yay!

On that note ... for this weekend:

• Corporate Cup on Saturday. Sailor and I will be running around cheerleading Eric, Huff, Tudor, Kev, and some more Charlotte Runners on. Look for us on Tryon, Queens, and Morehead. I'll be the one with the howling red dog.
• Sunday: BBQ at the McIntosh/Norvell home. So excited to go see all the cherry blossoms.

Next Week:

• Thursday - BEER MILE
• Friday - Matty's birthday shindig in NoDa (Cabo Fish Taco and some Live Music at the Evening Muse)
• Saturday - St. Patty's celebration at the Mike & Sarah's; a drink in every room should lead to an exciting evening
• Sunday - Brian Regan!

Blurry Growth

Thanks for the genetics, Mom and Dad. Eyes got worse this year, but it meant a cute new pair of Kate Spade spectacles (Spectrum Eyecare uptown is supurb).

What a weekend - Friday was a late OT Devils win (watched at Ed's ... thankfully they have the NHL package) followed by a fun jaunt to NoDa with Tud/Molls (Dolce Vita, adorable and had live music). Saturday I finally got the shop vac I have been eyeing since Christmas (chew as many sticks as you want now Sailor!). It was a steal at Sams Club for $30. Great little rainy BBQ at the ranch Friday with awesome friends ... and a great couple rounds of wii bowling. Thanks for making the hike everyone!

"No-Plans-Sunday" was relaxing. Came home to find my lillies growing :) Sunflowers are growing like weeds (note: Weeds Season 6 disc 2 comes this week, le sigh). Sailor, Eric and I rocked out some fast sub 8min miles for 4.5miles last night since the rain gave way to a beautiful night. Ended with some great salmon and flounder for dinner from Trader Joes.

Stretch and Breath

Fantastic run with Molls this evening and then my Molly Massage a day early! Feeling superb and thankful for such a great and quality friend.

Pending news about work, stay tuned. Thankful for the great people I work with [and next to] (that's especially you "tams" who always always always helps me troubleshoot and teaches me how "self sooth" when wanting to crush Excel under my heel).

Tomorrow was supposed to be a day off, but now is looking like "cult" TAC class minus Huff :( followed by a run with the pstone crowd. Eric hasn't been yet and since today was tugboat's off-day, tomorrow she'll need a solid 4.5 miles.

Friday is a Devil's game ... anyone up to coming out to the Ranch and being my partner in crime?! I'm not allowed to make plans for the weekend, so I've got nothing to really report :/

Garden Update - Eric sent me a pic of the lettuce that is already sprouting! We planted Saturday and by Tuesday there were signs of life - woot woot! My lilies look lively on the front window but, no movement yet on the Lipstick Flowers or herbs. Patience is a virtue I am constantly battle.

Upcoming:

• March 20 - Brian Regan at Ovens (Eric and I will be there!)

Countdown to Chucktown

 This picture was used to prove Eric should still be in the 20-24 age bracket in the Grand Prix R4YL series.

1 Romanian driver, 2 states, and 3 unruly passengers = great time.

Charleston can't come soon enough - very excited for 2 houses this year with twice as many crazy runners. Thanks, Wen, for getting it all together!!

Rompy Weekend

Another great weekend for the books here in Charlotte -- finally got to catch up with ms.-on-the-go in ATL on Friday during the tragic Devils loss (note: I tried to go in the other room to not be deemed as "bad luck"). I couldn't be more proud of the political prowess of my Jules. The trail run wore tugboat out Saturday... she did manage to attempt a coup d'état during our second lap. She is smart enough to know that while I'm barefoot on gravel and ahead of her, she can stop quickly and catch me off guard and run the opposite way.

Touche Sailor, touche.

Garden is all set for the first-of-season-veggies (lettuce, carrots, herbs, etc..) Lowes didn't know what hit them with all the seeds we bought and a couple flowers for me to plant + 10% off coupon (thanks Huff!). Looking forward to the seedlings and my lilies to grow.

I'll never go to the movies uptown again past 8pm - it only means you get stuck trying to use the bathroom at the same time as the "in crowd" dressed in spandex and a neon bra breaking into a fight, but, the night was an overall success - thank you for planning it, Eric :)!

At the par 3 course out in ranch-land, I proved to the boys(Huff/Eric) that you can make par with only a putter. Ryan also owes me $5 for betting that I could hit someone - sorry guy in the long pants/sleeves when it was 75 outside. You were collateral damage. Grilled out after with Walter and Sara Beth ... Sara Beth gets a special note here for her delicious wheat pasta salad and white chocolate chip brownies AND suggesting we have a date night where all the girls where Rompers. She is a keeper, Walter :)

Nothing special yet this week except my appointment for a Molly Massage (great valentine's present hehe). Looking forward to lots of runs after work this week and a "No Plans Sunday" per Eric's request.

Turn for the Great

Work has been a true surprise today and I'm thrilled to finally have a relaxing evening.

Tonight is looking like steak kabobs and some quality beers on the deck watching Tugs chew some trees in the yard. Eric sent me a nice reminder that if I would not like to partake in actively watching the Devils tonight, I can finish up reupholstering the chair torn apart in the front room (I know he just wants to go fabric shopping Sunday!).

Saturday evening is looking like a double, possibly triple date night followed by drinks at Taco Mac's (great idea Sarah K.). Huff and I have been plotting some golf at Larkhaven on Sunday ($28/person is a deal for 70 and sunny) with some grilling on the patio after.

Here's to the end to a stressful week!

Exciting News!

As resident planner and inbox blaster, I'm going to try and see if I can ramp up the crowd to read this, a possibly more exciting channel than my emails, to get updates on plans. It's also a nice way to keep my Florida fam and friends in the know, since I'm about as good at returning phone calls as I am at box jumps.

The recent amazing news is my very best friend will have an onsite interview at GOOGLE soon - hugs/kisses/prayers galore in prep for her adventure to the west coast.

This week:
Wednesday: Run and Dinner. Thinking Pio Pio or the famous East Blvd Brixx ($2.50 drafts would be a nice treat after a good run)

Friday: 2 words .. Devils Game. Wanted to get in a track workout and RoCo ... but, maybe another day. Devils are on a STREAK!

Weekend: Sarah K. and I will be taking the dogs on a nice hike to Crowders to wear them out...if Bella/Sails could ever be tired. But, at least peeing all over the woods beats marking territory at the ranch house. (I say this as I type at monster pup is dead asleep on my legs).

Upcoming:

• Next Friday: First Friday Southend Gallery Crawl ending at somewhere fun (Phats Burrito?)
• Restaurant to Try: Wen/Sarah M. were talking about Cowfish and now I'm itching to check it out too; sushi and burgers! Somewhere Eric and I would both enjoy!

Exciting news pending this week - Nite from an already sleeping Tugboat. More tomorrow.