Happy Birthday Andy!

Just wanted to wish my fave cousin (okay, they are all my favorites!) a very happy birthday. I'm sure he's celebrating in style in Jackson. Counting the days down to Belize!

Pics from the wknd!

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Mother's Birthday and Memorial Day 2007

Weekend Wonderful

We spent a lovely Memorial Day weekend in the DC area, first surprising Mother for her birthday. M, D, and I (mark was golfing with chuck) hit DC to see "Once", a PHENOMENAL movie at the E Street Theatre and then grabbing dinner at Matchbox, one of my favorite DC Pizza Places in Chinatown. The next days were mostly spent with Ella, Philip III, and Aleta! We hit up the University Towers Pool, made a go at a pinnick in Kemp Mill Park before a threatening thunderstorm turned us around, and then went up to the Farm, where Uncle Joe and Stella were, on Monday. I introduced Ella to one of my favorite childhood past times: unturning stones and bricks around the Farm and looking for creepy crawlers. In total, we found about five earth worms, 10 potato bugs, 1 caterpillar, and some other bugs that only Ella (who doesn't really know any better) or I (who, as many of you know, I have a weird fascination with bugs) would touch.

Check out that face!
Philip III is now 7 mos old and is quite the cutie! He is still as calm as he was as a newborn, but now he's learned some new noises (motorboat sounds and something that sounds like "ma ma"). Most notably, he has an adorable smile! I tried to capture it here in a shot with Ella...not entirely successful.

Trying to be FIERCE!

All of those hours spent watching America's Next Top Model paid off this morning at our big photo shoot at Chelsea Piers! Okay, okay, maybe Tyra's not going to tell me I'm still in the running to be ANTM, and "noted" fashion photographer Nigel Barker won't be snapping away anytime soon, but I did work my my unphotogenic-self for the camera! This is all part of a story for Metro Sports Magazine (given out fa free in most gyms in the tri-state area) which is featuring l in its July issue local triathletes of varying levels, including pros (Bec), elite age-groupers (Karl), and slow pokes (me).

I stole this picture from Karl because I didn't take my camera out of my backpack this morning. Oops. We'll just have to see what kind of shots the photog got this morning as we were running, stretching, swimming,
and spinning! Karl was definitely the star of the show and looked every bit the elite with her fancy Full Throttle "kit" and her icy game face!

A funny note: At one point, the photographer asked the group--about 10 of us in all-- to dive in the pool from where we were lined up on the deck. When he said "go", everyone dove in--except for Karl and I! Without discussing it, we both made the decision to skip the dive--and the potential wallop in the face or other possible impact. Looks like all of mother's warnings about not doing anything that would break our neck are drilled into us...good.

Tory Burch is doing Lance some good! I have to think the designer--and current Armstrong paramour--is behind this latest dapper look. Sheryl may have given him the cool factor, but Tory's got Lance looking hotter than ever! (Especially love the aviator shades!)

California Dreamin'

My friend (and Hopkins MA in Nonfiction Writing classmate) sent along these gorgeous pics taken rencently at La Jolla Shores beach. That's her 16-month-old son, Michael. Looking at these pictures makes me want to pack up and ship out to San Diego--Mark, are you listening? (Did I mention BDO is hiring in their SD office?!)

Wedding Video

Here's a quick video from Kevin and Sara's wedding. If you want to see more, let me know!

Happy Mum's Day!

We had a lovely day with our lovely mum today. Mark and I made it back from WB with plenty of day left to enjoy. He headed off to New Orleans for work; I met up with Muthe, in just for the day, and Leezie and then Karl and Bec joined us a little later on for a little gift-opening. Then we all strolled to the East Village, where Leezie and Karl had mani/pedi's at Pritti while M, Bec, and I did a little window shopping. After we took advantage of the gorgeous sunshine to take a few pics. It was so great to be able to spend the day with our amazing mom! More pics in the album!

mother's day

Sara & Kevin's Wedding

Whelley's wedding

We hit up the WB (that's Wilkes Barre, PA) this weekend for the wedding of Kevin Whelley and Sara Maisano. It was a beautiful wedding and we had such a great time. Lots of pictures in the album above, and I've got some video to show, too.

Six months from today, we'll be here...

Just booked our hotel room (make that our cabana) in Ambergris Caye for Julie and Andy's wedding! The El Pescador, where the wedding will take place, is booked so Mark and I will be bunking next door at the Capricorn Resort. Looks just as nice and boasts the best food on Belize! I know it's silly to get excited for something that's so far away, but this is going to be a very fun time for our family. I can't wait.

On a totally separate note, I forgot to mention an A List siting Mark, Leezie, and I had on Sunday. While standing outside of Leezie's gate on 12th street, I notice a stunning--albeit schlumpily dressed--woman pushing a stroller with the tiniest sleeping baby inside. I took more notice of the baby because she was so small. After she passed, Mark said, "That was Amanda Peet!" The baby? Her two-month-old daughter, Pen.

Laying Eggs

There's a lot going on in my world these days, so sometimes I forget that I'm supposed to be "in training" for the NYC triathlon. Unlike Karl and Bec, I do not make early-morning swimming or cycling sessions part of my week and instead toil away at the gym, exhausted, late at night after work. I know I'm not doing exactly what is necessary to get into racing shape, but I do as much as I have time for. But after this weekend, I realize that I'm going to have to find a little more time for training, because I definitely need it!

Looking at the bright side, I did complete two "races" this weekend, which, I think is a first for me. I say races dubiously because only one was actually official--a duathlon in Ulster County, NY yesterday. The other was the Chelsea Piers Mile, which I esentially stumbled upon on Friday night. Erroneously told that this was going to be a "major" event, I convinced Bec, still ailing from her Buenos Aires mystery bug, and Mark to join me at the gym to watch the races go down. I actually thought there were going to be pros there and the track dork inside of me wnated to check it out. When we got there, all we saw were a bunch of men running around the banked 200m track. And these weren't professionals--they were regular gym-goers. I figured we missed the big race and was all set to hit the treadmill when next thing I know, I'm getting pulled into the women's field, which consisted of two other women and myself. I'd eaten only a bialy and some chips throughout the day and hadn't stretched a muscle. Then, with a bad start, I pulled the caboose from the gun (er, wave of the hand), and watched as the two girls in front--one a pro triathlete, the other just a girl in very good shape--battle it out. I figured I'd just try not to get lapped and go for sub-7 minutes. When I finished the six-and-a-quarter laps, I checked my watch: 6:22. Nothing to write home about, but better than I thought I could do on little sustenance and absolutely no preparation. By default, I made the podium and was promised some sort of prize later in the week. Not bad.

About 48 hours later, I found myself at another starting line; this time for the 2-mile run, 14-mile bike, and 2-mile duathlon. I debated whether to do this all weekend, because I knew I wasn't ready. But how hard could it be? Answer: Extremely. Two miles of running may be doable, but bike ride really did me in. Actually, it was a very steep, long hill that did me in. To quote a fellow racer, there was an egg on that hill, and I laid it. Ugh.

As I predicted, Karl beat me by a full leg (she was finishing her run when I was just starting), and did us all proud by finishing around 5th or 6th.

Today, a bit beleagured but ready to face the week, I'm motivated to up my training so I actually can finish a race without feeling like I have the speed of a 90-year-old. Let's just see if I can find the time!