Weekend Recap

This past weekend was one of those weekends that started off slow and then went full force leaving me wishing that it wasn't over. And that I had time to recover from it.

On Friday as soon as I got home from work, I took a nap. I hadn't slept that well the night before. All the announcing that I had done for the two days of the Central District Track and Field Championships had turned my cold into a mild case of tonsillitis. When I left the meet on Thursday night, my tonsils were so swollen and I had a fever.

So believe me when I say I did a lot of sleeping and laying around on Friday night and Saturday morning through afternoon. At least on Saturday when I went to my mom's boyfriend's house, I had Parenthood to keep me occupied. I am addicted to that show, by the way.

Source

On Saturday, the rest of my family headed up to Fredericksburg because my sisters were participating in the Historic Half Marathon there on Sunday. They left me at home with the dog, the cat, and Lynn.

Lynn had been craving sushi for awhile so we made that our plan for dinner on Saturday night. I had never been to Wabi Sabi, which is vaguely surprising since I have friends that used to go all the time. I guess when I was in high school I wasn't an adventurous eater. One time we went to a sushi restaurant in Richmond, I ordered a cheeseburger.

However, the time I ordered sushi. I had the Philadelphia roll and a tempura shrimp roll. Sushi is so filling and so expensive. I ordered one roll of each and had about half to take home in a box. It made for good lunch at work on Monday!

Sushi: really bad cellphone photo

After Wabi Sabi, we weren't quite ready to call it a night. So we headed where all pretty girls head on to on a Saturday night: Martin's. There we bought the craziest assortment of items. The cashier was totally judging us, between our assorted drinks, breakfast foods, two gallons of ice cream (I'm lactose intolerant and require lactose-free ice cream), chips and dip, and ice cream toppings. Lynn remarked that she probably thought we had just broke up with our boyfriends.

To add fuel to the fire (or well, that argument), we stopped by Redbox and picked out the two sappiest love story movies. Our first choice was Breaking Dawn Pt. 1; the second was Like Crazy, a movie I'd seen previews for but had forgotten about.

While eating massive amounts of junk food, we opted to watch Breaking Dawn first and it didn't make me groan nearly as much as I thought it would. Like Crazy, on the other hand, was not good. At all. I didn't realize it was one of those low budget, creative type movies. And the plot line was flat. I went to bed before it was over. Lynn said it didn't get any better.

Sunday, we got up and we were so tired. But we had plans to get things accomplished! First we had a breakfast of bacon, eggs, cinnamon rolls, and cubed potatoes. Then my family returned from Fredericksburg and then half of them left again to head to Blacksburg because my littlest sister is taking a six-week summer class.

Lynn and I headed to Glen Allen to go to my very first wine tasting, which was super cool. We're still upset that we didn't get to keep the glasses. How lame. Then we headed out to do some shopping at Virginia Center Commons. To finish up our day out, we went and got our nails done.

My new nail polish

When we returned back to Colonial Heights, I got back to my watching of Parenthood and then Lynn somehow convinced me to rewrite my resume. The next thing I knew it was 9:15 and I still had to drive 30 minutes home!

What did you do this past weekend? What are you going to do this weekend?

Sick Start to the Week

Hey loves! I hope your week has gotten off to a good start. Not to complain Mine hasn't started off quite the way I would've wanted it to. 


I'm sick. :(


I absolutely hate being sick. I'm a huge baby when I am sick. If I wasn't doing this long term assignment right now, I'd probably be in bed. 


Seriously, I run away from sick people. When I live with someone who is sick, Lysol becomes my friend. 


My sister just got home from college last week. Apparently, I didn't get the Lysol out fast enough because I caught her cold.


Well when preventative measures don't work, here's how I deal with my cold. 


1. First wave of defense: The magic VapoRub. Something my family swears by and apparently los cubanos do as well. In my house, we each have our own jar by our beds. 

Source

2. Chicken Noodle Soup

3. Medication

4. Naps

5. & 6. Ice Cream with maraschino cherries and Potato Wedges (So I spoil myself a little bit...)

Food Lion Potato Wedges!

What?! It soothes my throat!

What's your best cold remedy?

Growing old is mandatory...

...growing up is optional.

As of 7:04 a.m. Monday (April 23), I am 24 years of age. I'm still young, but I'm not that young. My six-year-old cousin asked me if when I turned 24 if I'd finally be a grown up. I'm still trying to answer that question myself.

I took the day off on Monday because I am lucky enough to have one of those jobs where I can take off whenever I want to (a not real job - another sign that I'm not quite a grown up yet). I slept in, was lazy, was spoiled, and looked cute. All of my favorite things. I'd been getting spoiled since Friday, having been taken out to eat 6 times over the course of 6 days. Some call it spoiled, I think I'll call it loved.

In honor of my 24th birthday and because this is my blog and I do what I want, I will be sharing with you 24 obscure facts you may or may not have known about this Southern Charmer.

1. I didn't learn how to tie my shoes with one loop (you know, the not two-bunny ears way) until college. No lie. And actually this fact, while very much true, was just a sneaky way of getting a photo of my new shoes I got for my birthday on here. =] Like?

2. I have never lived more than 20 miles away from the hospital where I was born, with the exception of the 4 years I was at JMU.

3. I love sunglasses. Especially my white ones. The reason I bought my first pair of white sunglasses is because someone told me that they would not look good on me, that white sunglasses look good on no one. I've been rockin them ever since. And I think I look good doing it.

4. I collect a lot of junk things that I wish I had the space to display. Interesting coins/money from different countries, spoons, Hard Rock Cafe T-Shirts, and postcards are just a couple of things I collect.

5. I was one of those nerdy people in school who liked to take notes. When I write stuff down, I remember it. I am always writing and always making lists. If you looked in my purse now, you'd find my reporter's notebook, full of lists, along with other assorted folded up pieces of paper.

6. I have a  super crazy freaky memory. Ask my friends. I remember facts, dates, events, stuff that no person should remember. It's absurd. I recently received my school records and found an assessment that my first grade teacher had written on me. It said, "Tiffany has an excellent memory."

7. When I went to college, I'd never been away from my family from home for more than a week at one time.

8. My mom thought there was something wrong with me when I was little because I wouldn't talk much. My uncle told her once I started, I'd never stop. That's been the case ever since.

9. At the age of 18, I'd only ever been to four states (and D.C.).

10. I've never spent more than 10 consecutive days outside the state of Virginia.

11.  I like stars. That "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" song? I always get the two middle lines mixed up...every time.

12. Sometimes I eat like a man. Or so, I've been told. I've eaten blueberry muffins in one day. Once I ate 6 medium-size pancakes for breakfast and my cousin called me a pig!


13. I am a procrastinator, which sucks because my whole college major (journalism) is based on deadline. I do work best under pressure. 


14. I didn't write a personal statement to get into JMU. The application said it was optional so I opted not to do it. JMU is so hard to get into now that that would never work again. 


15. I've been into photography since I was little. I made a pinhole camera using directions from my Girl Scout book when I was 9. When I got to use the Sony Mavica when I was in 5th grade, I fell in love with it. I used to visit the camera section of Walmart every time we were there. The memory card for a Mavica was a floppy disk. Yeah, I'm old. 

Source

16. I've never been outside of the Eastern Time Zone. 


17. My friends get me hooked on tv shows so easily. I can't even name all the shows I've seen every episode of. 


18. I've been singing since I was a little girl. I used to make up songs and one Christmas I got a microphone for Christmas. I did chorus in middle school and high school for 4 years. During road trips, I rock out hardcore in my car. The sad thing? I can't sing at all. 

Bad picture because it's a picture of a picture. (December 1990)

19. I love watching the Olympics but they always make me wish I was more athletic. My favorite sports to watch are gymnastics and figure skating. Both are sports I tried after watching the 1996 and 1998 Olympics. I sucked at both. Go figure.


20. I once ate rabbit meat. It tastes like turkey. 


21. I am lactose intolerant. 


22. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 19.


23. 23 is my favorite number!


24. I absolutely love anything JMU. But this isn't really an obscure fact is it?

Rendezvous in Richmond

For those of you who don't know, I currently work as a substitute teacher. While on a day-to-day basis, the job definitely has its ups and downs.


One of the positives is the schedule. Every day I'm off by 3:00 p.m. and I have weekends off, unless I'm hanging out at my alma mater on official school business.


And the best thing is I have still have Spring Break! Who says you have to give up Spring Break once you graduate from college. Last year I spent my break in Harrisonburg.

This year Spring Break was last week, April 9-13. I spent my entire break in Richmond. From Sunday to Thursday, I was helping Lynn make over and paint her new condo. I got paint all over myself.

On my skin...

On my clothes...

Even in my hair!

Exhibit A:

I was talking to Patti one day while I was painting and she mentioned that she had Friday off of work. She also mentioned that she didn't have any plans. Since it's been far too long since I saw Patti (okay it's been since St. Patrick's Day), I took it upon myself to make plans for us to hang out.

I toyed with plans of going to the beach or spending the day in Washington, D.C. but these plans sounded both expensive and exhausting. Then I thought, well I've been in Richmond every day this week, what's another day?

It took me awhile to narrow down what I wanted to do.

We decided on Carytown, since I hadn't been there except briefly since my senior year in high school. Then I wanted to check out Hollywood Cemetery.

I met Patti in Richmond with some directions from Google Maps since I'm not exactly the best at driving places I've never driven before or city driving. But I successfully got us to Carytown.

We decided to walk down one side of the street from end to end and then hit the other side on the way back.

Some of the highlights:

Cops on horses.

For the Love of Chocolate a.k.a. my new favorite place in the world. Think of any candy you've ever had (remember Warheads, anyone?), it's here.

Patti with a York Peppermint Patty.

Candy!!

Charms from the bead store

and Sweet Frog, which there are no photos of because it's so good and there's no time to take photos when you are that hungry.

Then we headed over to Hollywood Cemetery, except we got there at 4:40 and they close at 5p.m. So I only got to explore for a little bit! There are awesome views of the city and the river from the cemetery.

I'll do some more exploring next time!

The Year of the Runner (A Monument Avenue 10K Story)

5K, 8K, and now 10K.

I'm not athletic. Ask anyone who has known me for awhile. While they will rave about my many exemplary characteristics, my athleticism is not one of them. 

I'm the girl who avoided doing anything in gym class like it was the plague. Dodgeball? I hid behind the tall people until I realized that this kept me in the game longer. Then I would just pretend I got hit. "Oh that ball came within a 3 foot radius of me? I think it did hit me...somewhere...I'll just sit down now." 


We had to run the mile at least every year for our athletic tests. My fastest mile was in seventh grade: 9:22. That time was thanks to me running with J. Wray.

This year I've decided to take on athletic accomplishments of monumental (like what I did there?) proportions. First I ran the Sweetheart 8K in February, which marked the longest distance and time I've run in my life to that point. Then I was prompted to run the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K. I mean, it's go big or go home, right?

My Monument Avenue 10K story starts the night before. (Or actually it starts in the weeks after my 8K where I could not bring myself to train regularly. But enough about that.) I sat at home while Lynn and Dani went to Richmond to grab our bib numbers. At first, I was upset that I did not go with them. But afterwards, I was glad I stayed. I got extra rest and got to eat dinner first!

When I got out of the shower that night, my Monument Avenue 10K bag was sitting on the bed. I looked inside and found my bib number.

To be honest, I chose the wave "TB" because those are my initials. It's the 66-70 minute wave.

My souvenir Monument Avenue 10K shirt and another shirt! Turns out that at the expo, there was a company selling cute shirts with running slogans on them. Lynn and Dani picked out this one for me.

We all decided to wear our shirts for the race on Saturday. On Saturday morning, I woke up at 5:45. Got dressed, ate breakfast, and we were headed for Richmond by 6:30! The first wave of runners were set to begin at 8:30. Mine and Dani's wave wasn't set to start until 9:31. Lynn was in an earlier wave but decided she would wait and start with us.

Race outfit!

Pre-race photo

We sat in the car when we got to Richmond for awhile but then decide we should probably head to where everything was going so we wouldn't miss our start time. By this time, it was raining; it rained from that point on until at least my second mile.

I ran the first two and a half miles with Dani and Lynn and then went off on my own. I could definitely feel that my second half of the race was much faster than the first.

The Monument Avenue 10K is probably the most amazing race in the world. There is so much going on around you that you forget you're running. There are bands playing, people lining the streets cheering for you, and people just sitting on their porches watching all the actions. Some people dressed up in costumes for the race and it was exciting to check out their outfits as I ran by them.

While I still felt strong at the end of 6.2 miles, I can't say that I wasn't happy to see the finish line!

Post race photo!

And while my finish time was nothing to write home about if you're a real runner, I was quite pleased! (69:41)

I actually finished in the wave that I signed up for! =] And the rest of Saturday I rested. Because I could literally not walk. At all. At my mom's boyfriend's house I actually crawled up the stairs and slid down them on my bottom because my ankles were in such pain!

All in all, it was an amazing experience! Prior to the Monument Avenue 10K, I decided that it was going to be my last race for awhile since I couldn't find the motivation to train. However, then I remembered how much I love the feeling I get after I run! Now I need another race to train for!

True Life: I Get to Visit My Alma Mater for Work

About this time two weeks ago, I received a phone call in the middle of fourth period.

"Tiffany, I'm sorry to bother you during class but I wanted to see if you were interested in doing the school a favor," said the voice on the other end of the phone, that belonged to the athletic director/director of student activities. 

(FYI, I am not retelling this story verbatim.)

"The Forensics Coach is unable to attend the State Forensics Competition due to a family emergency and we need someone to go in her place. It'd be a Friday/Saturday trip."

At this point, I am thinking, "Why is work trying to cramp my weekend as well as my week?"


Then the magic words.


"I know you don't know anything about Forensics but the competition is up at JMU. It's being held at Harrisonburg High School."


My love of the gold and purple is well-known in my workplace. My answer: "Yeah I'm interested. Let's sit down and talk about the specifics after school."


That's how I ended driving to Harrisonburg on Friday (the 23rd) afternoon to act as the Forensics coach for the DHS Forensics Team. As acting Forensics coach, I was in charge of our three young ladies who made it to States. Except all of their parents were going, so I really wasn't in charge of them. 


I met them on Friday night at the hotel. Yes, the hotel. It was weird staying at a hotel because Harrisonburg feels so much like home to me. However, the hotel was super nice.

 After we went to the JMU Opera, I attempted to sleep in my amazing hotel room; but I just couldn't. I was nervous that I would oversleep for the competition that was slated for early Saturday morning. 


Saturday was an eventful and long, long day. We were at Harrisonburg High School for 12 hours! 


For those of you who are unfamiliar with Forensics, it's a competition made up of 10 individual events and 2 duo events. Each student on a team competes in one category. The young ladies I accompanied were participating in Humorous Dramatic Interpretation, Serious Dramatic Interpretation, and Storytelling.


Luckily, I got to see each of the ladies perform and I am glad I did. These girls had performed their pieces with such poise and precision. I was truly amazed by all of them. One of our students made it into the finals and took home second place in her category. (She also found out two days later that she had been accepted into James Madison University.)


When I was finally released from my duties as Forensics coach. I had less than 24 hours left of my weekend. What were my first priorities? 


Food and sleep! 
Jeremy cooked me dinner and let me crash on his couch.

The rest of the weekend, I spent shopping at the mall, the bookstore, and the outpost with Jessica and Jeremy. I visited with Beau and Josh for 15 minutes. Then I headed east and southwards back to Dinwiddie making a stop at the Green Valley Book Fair on my way home!


All in all, it was a busy, eventful weekend and I was glad I had the opportunity to attend.

St. Patti's Day Weekend

The people I usually talk to every day live the furthest away from me. 


That's what going away to college does to you. 


College forces you to live really close to people; people that you don't know.


College forces you to share a 3-sink, 3-toilet, 3-shower bathroom with 27 other girls. College forces you sleep in room with someone whose sleep habits do not match your own.

Hope you didn't feel this way about your roommate!

College forces you to become close to people in the shortest amount of time ever. College forces you to make the friends that you've been looking for all your life.


Then college makes you graduate. College splits you up from the four (or five or six) years of people it's been forcing you to be with. At least that's how I feel.


After a long span of time with zero road trips due to my lack of car, I headed up to Caroline County on Friday to spend the weekend with Patti and Ben. 


Patti is one of those people college forced on me! I met her freshman year after knowing nothing about her except what was visible on her Facebook and that she was going to be on of the girls living in my suite sophomore year in Chandler Hall. 


I wonder what each of us would have said if you told us then that we'd spend the next 3 years living near or with each other and being nearly inseparable; that 5 years later we'd still be friends.

Patti and me!

When college introduced me to Patti, I'm not sure that it intended on introducing her family to me but I'm glad it happened. I absolutely adore them!


Anyway, Ben, Patti's boyfriend, was the one who actually invited me up to visit with them since I hadn't seen them since December! It just so happened that the weekend he invited me up for was the weekend that Patti's oldest brother, Eddie was home from Hawaii, where he is stationed in the Army. 


It was a lucky (luck of the Irish, perhaps?) coincidence because a) I hadn't seen Eddie in ages, b) I got meet his girlfriend Jess, and c) there was cause to celebrate, which means PARTY! 


Which means food.

Green Deviled Eggs! Patti's idea!

Pasta Salad!

Which means family.

Patti and her brothers!

 Which means fun.

One of the many lawn games being played.

 On Sunday after regaining our energy and attending Mass, I got to introduce Ben and Patti to the amazingness that is Sweet Frog! They were so excited even our trip to Sweet Frog included me getting rear-ended at a stop sign! No worries, everything and everyone was okay. Frozen yogurt made us feel better! 

Patti! I have no idea what she is doing!

Ben and his Sweet Frog!

My creation!

How did you spend your St. Patrick's Day weekend?