AAAAAHHH!! OMFG!! HOLY FREAKIN' MOLY!!

Last week, I received a very suspicious package in the mail from the charity that I applied to run for. All it contained was a t-shirt, training guide, blank thank-you notes and a few goodies. THAT'S IT. No letter, nothing, nada. So, I spent a week wondering what the heck that meant...did I get in? Am I running the NYC marathon in November? Do I need to get off my ass and start running more than a couple of miles a few times a week (might be a good idea in general)? Then last night, I decide to look at the training schedule...you know, just in case. I start putting the weekend long runs in my calendar in my phone, then decided to delete them all, because who freaking knows at this point. I swear, not 2 seconds later, my phone dings and I check my email.

This is what I read:

Dear Veronica Deats,

Girls on the Run is glad to provide you with a guaranteed entry into the ING New York City Marathon 2010..

I almost peed my pants. I'm in, I'm in, I'm in....I'm flipping the heck out!!

So, I run (trip) to my computer, register and get this seconds later:


Congratulations! You have received guaranteed entry to the ING New York City Marathon 2010.

Your entry number is...

It's officially official.

I am committed to a fundraising goal of $2,500, so don't be surprised if you receive mass emails and phone calls from me...just remember how much you love me ;) And, if you see me on the side of the road with a couple of cute kids selling lemonade or cookies, you better stop and buy some!

NYC Marathon Update

Well, the lotto was a bust. Out of six people I know that entered, one got in...which happened to be Andrea! We didn't really think any of the 3 of us that were trying for the 1st time would get in, but sure enough! As of now I've applied to run with a charity, and I'm just waiting to hear if I've been accepted. I had no clue this would be such a process. Lots of work for something I decided to do on a whim. So, for now I'm just in limbo and we'll see.

A bunch of updates all squished into one!

We've had a busy few months around here, and I feel like I haven't really had a second to stop and take it all in! We've had birthdays, birthdays and more birthdays!! We've been remodeling bathrooms, taking some short trips and, trying to remember to breathe every once in a while. Life's good!
Liam turned one at the end of January (cue minor heart attack!) and is just becoming the funniest little guy :) He laughs at everything, including himself. He's starting to really try to talk and says the normal "Mama, Dada, uh-oh, hello, bu-bye" etc. He just started saying "aya" for Ava and putting a few words together like "bu-bye dada". He's still the most laid back kid that I've ever been around, but has such a fun personality. Everyday I see more and more of Jon in him. He really is Jon's little mini-me! Big news too...he FINALLY started walking!! He took his first step a little over a week ago while we were in Houston and now he's taking more and more everyday. He's trying to push himself up to stand from the floor and go from there too, and has managed to do it a few times. So, go Buggy!! 'Bout time little dude.
Ava turned 4 at the beginning of February and while I was hoping she would magically wake up and be done with the terrible 3's (because whoever came up with the terrible 2's clearly never met my daughter), but 4 had been just as challenging so far. She does have some redeeming qualities though, so I'll work with what we've got for now. According to her sweet, wonderful teachers at school, she is polite, helpful and always on her very best behavior. I am convinced that I'm sending a different child to school than the one that I bring home. At least she saves the drama for me...and I'm so thankful that she knows to leave it at home. Right now that kid's social calendar is harder to plan around than any of ours. She's playing soccer, taking ballet and swim lessons and is already pretty much booked up for the summer. I mean, seriously. But, she's happy and active and that's a good thing. She's been asking for a while to go out running with me, so I talked to her Pediatrician about it and he said go for it. So, we bought her 1st pair of running shoes and we've been running around the neighborhood together. I'm running a 5k in a couple of weeks and they have a kids fun run that she's going to do! She's so excited and it makes me so proud that this is something she seems to really like right now. I hope she enjoys the whole race experience so I can continue to encourage her :)
Jon and I both turned the big 3-0 and had a joint "60th" Birthday party last month to celebrate. It was so much fun and so many of our friends and family came. I have to say that I was pretty excited to finally be in my thirties. I was so over being 20-something and feel like and official grown-up now for some reason. Of course I still do completely immature things like buy $10 sunglasses because I can't take care of nice ones, and buy music by girls with $ymbol$ in their names because I like to listen to it when I run....you know, to make me feel young and all ;)
Speaking of running, I ran my SECOND half marathon a couple of weeks ago! I was having some problems with my hip, which looks like it might be IT band issues, and really followed a pretty pathetic training schedule...but even with all of that I managed to take a full 12 minutes off of my time from the 1st one in just 3 months! With the exception of my hip, I also recovered so much faster. I took a couple of weeks off and I'm going to try a short run tomorrow and see how I feel. I am surprised at how much I've missed running lately. Never thought i'd say that ;) It will be nice to run just because I want to for a little while, and not because I'm training for anything. After the half I did something ridiculous (blame it on Andrea again!) and entered the lotto to run the New York Marathon in November. Not sure what I was thinking. I've had it in the back of my head that I'd like to run ONE full marathon, and if I'm going to do it, I need to do it this year. We find out in a little over a week if we got in...so we'll see! I'd say wish me luck...but I'm not sure how much I want ;)
So, that's our story for now!

Phil can SUCK IT....

Because I don't think I can handle six more weeks of winter. I do not live in Texas and endure summers that feel like I've been summoned to the fiery depths of Hell to have to put of with the winter that we've had. Ice, snow...more ice and snow...below freezing temperatures. Um, no freaking thank you. I live here and deal with many, many days of hundred degree plus weather so that I can enjoy nice, mild 60 degree days December through February, and maybe break out the heavy coat once or twice. I am SO OVER THIS. I need sunshine STAT.

Key West Trip

We had been planning this trip for months, so by the time it actually got here, we were SO ready for a vacation! We really needed it, and it was such a fun, relaxing trip. We flew out at the ass crack of dawn Thursday morning (on the 6 am flight, which meant we were up at 3...that was painful). The plus was that we got almost a full day there. When we got there, I thought we were staying at the Doubletree by the airport. I told Jon to find us a cheap hotel because I didn't want to waste money on the hotel, we probably wouldn't be there that much anyway, blah, blah, blah. He surprised me by changing our reservations to the Reach, which was so sweet. I would have been more than fine staying in the Doubletree...but I won't lie, this was so much nicer!! I loved it :) It gets better though. My sweet, wonderful friend Angie had left me a gift certificate to the hotel spa for my birthday and she and her husband had champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, etc. sent to our room. On top of that, we got upgraded to a Suite and they sent us up the biggest piece of chocolate cake you can imagine for our Anniversary. We were a little spoiled!
The weather was a little cool the first day, but warmed up some by Friday. We decided to get some beach time in. I decided that I was going to be brave and rock a bikini since Jon was the only person I knew there and he's already seen everything that there is too see anyway. I figured everyone else could just suck it. Plus, I was pretty sure that I would be no where close to winning the "What the Hell is she thinking putting that on in public" award. Good news is I was correct in my assessment that I would not be the palest, or flabbiest chica in a bikini. Bad news is that having gotten no UV action in almost 5 years, my belly decided to retaliate by turning the brightest shade of lobster red that you can imagine...even though it got the same amount of sun, and was given the exact same amount of sunscreen protection. Maybe that's a sign.
We did a couple of touristy things that we didn't get to do when we were there for the wedding. We went to the Butterfly Exhibit and the Hemingway House. I really enjoyed both of them. I have to say...I'm not sure what they feed those butterflies, but they were on crack. I could barely get pictures of them. We got to see some being released that were only a few hours old. Apparently they only live to be 10-14 days old. Sad little fact. The Hemingway House was just gorgeous...so much history. All of the little 6-toed cats were killing me. They were everywhere!
We pretty much just spent a lot of time walking around, ducking into a few little shops and bars. We hit Mallory Square one night for Sunset....which is a must. Lucky for us it was the only night with a great sunset! The rest of our time was spent eating more food that anyone has any business eating. I plan on fully describing each meal, so get ready!
Our first stop for lunch on Thursday was at the Banana Cafe on Duval. It's a little French cafe and was not too far from our Hotel. Reason #1 why we chose it!! We were starving and it was the first thing that looked good. They had an amazing selection of crepes, salads and sandwiches. Jon had a turkey sandwich and I had the mozzarella sandwich. It was delicious. Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil with olive oil on whole grain bread. Their twist was that instead of balsamic vinegar, they did a lime vinaigrette. Very refreshing and healthy. I managed to resist the banana and nutella crepes. Good thing, since over the course of the four days that we were there, I became a member of the clean plate club more times that I am willing to admit.
For dinner that night, we stumbled (literally....after a fantastic happy hour at Conch Republic Seafood Co..which is where we had our Rehearsal Dinner!) into Caroline's, also on Duval. I had a skirt steak with black beans and rice, and Jon had blackened mahi-mahi (which they made for him upon request!). They food was excellent, and not very pricey! I'm assuming that we were not overly enthused because of the number of drinks that we had consumed, and that it was, in fact, as tasty as I recall. That make a pretty good mojito too :)
Lunch Friday was at Camille's on Simonton. I loved this place. The food was great. They are famous for their breakfast, which they serve all day. Jon got their chicken salad sandwich with sweet potato fries and I had a breakfast burrito with jalapeno sausage and skillet potatoes. We ate half of each others because they were both delicious. I loved the decor in this place too. Think Granny Floridian Kitch with a kinky sense of humor. Everywhere you look you see something new; like vintage Barbies in bondage hanging from the windows, fuzzy leopard handcuffs at the bar, and wooden pigs getting it on in the front window. All of that is juxtaposed with tropical pastel outdoor furniture that you would find in a snow bird retirement community! Pretty funny stuff...great food!
Dinner that night was at Prime 951 on Caroline St. We had made reservations online, and were surprised with a little private room! Very nice :) I had read that this place had amazing steaks, and was not disappointed. For appetizers, Jon got a wedge salad and I had a tomato and mozzarella stack. Delicious. Their steaks come out on wooden cutting boards and they were cooked perfectly. So good, that I ate every.single.bite! I also ordered the mashed potatoes as a side....and if you know me at all...you know that I adore potatoes. I ate a bite, maybe two. They were fabulous, but that steak was unbelievable! Jon got the mac 'n cheese, and said it was good...but it had truffle oil and he had a severe issue with people putting truffle oil in everything just because it's "fancy and trendy". I have to say that I agree 100%. That was the only complaint...damn truffles. I will also say that the service here was impeccable. There was someone in that room checking on us constantly, but not in an annoying way. They were very on top of things.
For dessert, we headed to this little place called Better than Sex on Petronia. Luckily it was a bit of a walk because we had no room by the time we left the steakhouse. They only serve desserts, with crazy names, and have definitely put and effort into giving the place an "atmosphere". I ordered the Kinky Key Lime Pie, which was pretty good, but more of a mousse than a pie. Jon got the Hot and Bothered which I loved. It was a spicy chocolate ice cream topped with white chocolate...YUM! Our waiter was hilarious and there is definitely no such thing as censorship there! I wouldn't say the desserts are better than sex, but it's a fun place to go.
For lunch Saturday we took the boat out to Sunset Key, where our wedding was, and ate at Latitudes. I was so excited to get to go back out to the island, and it definitely brought back so many wonderful memories! The first thing we noticed though, was how much the shoreline had changed. The waiter told us that with the storms and cold weather they'd had over the past few weeks, the tide had come up about 10-15 feet. It was still so pretty, and I loved being out there, even it it was only for a couple of hours. We each ate a sandwich...I don't even remember what, but they were tasty. I had a total frou-frou drink too. A key lime colada...so unlike me as I do not do sweet, pastel, frothy drinks of any sort, but I was on vacation so what the hell! After lunch we walked around for a bit and looked at all of the cottages. I couldn't remember for the life of me which one we stayed in, just that it had green shutters. We decided that in five years we were coming back again and may just have to stay out there!
Dinner that night was at Nine One Five on Duval. It's a cute little restaurant, and one of Key West's more trendy spots. I don't know how long they've been open, but I don't remember seeing it last time we were there. Luckily they have a tapas style menu, and you can get some smaller portions of really great food. By the time we ate here, we were so stuffed from eating 2 huge meals a day that I didn't know how much more I could handle. I sucked it up though, and we got fried polenta to start with (oh, how I love polenta!!). I had chipotle orange pork tacos and Jon got their signature tuna dome. The food was really great, but the service was so, so we thought. We did end up getting dessert, fresh pear and blueberry cobbler...so glad I did because it was delicious. I think we were in a food coma after we left because we tried to hit a few bars, and ended up taking a petty cab back to the hotel after about an hour. Way to live it up on our last night, huh!?!
For our final meal on Sunday (that sounds morbid), we ate at Ricky's Blue Heaven. It had been raining all morning and hadn't really let up much by the time we got there for brunch. We ended up having to sit inside, which was a bummer because I was looking forward to sitting outside with all of the roosters running around! I had a luncheon there the morning of our wedding and loved it, so I was really looking forward to eating there. They do breakfast, lunch and dinner...but only serve breakfast/brunch until 2 on Sundays. I had been talking about how amazing their banana pancakes are, and Jon ordered those. I forgot how huge they are though. You get three pancakes the size of my rear, and it is impossible to eat all of them. I got the rooster special with eggs, bacon, potatoes and banana bread. I ate some of Jon's pancakes too! We miserably walked around for a while after that, and I actually felt like I was going to die. Although everything was so very good, I am glad to be home and away from all of the temptation of yummy new food that I need to try!!
Now we're back to the real world, but this will hopefully be a regular trip every half decade...it's definitely a special place for us and we get a little more attached with each visit!

Key West

"

That Pesky Zaquito...

...rhymes with taquito.

Ava and I had an interesting little convo on the car ride home from school today.
She noticed me scratching my arm, and it went a little something like this:

Monkey: Mom, do you have an itchy bite?
Me: Yes baby, something bit me.
Monkey: Was it a zaquito?
Me: a WHAT?
Monkey: a zaquito
Me: (holding back tears of laughter) I'm sorry, but I'm going to need you to say that again.
Monkey: (in a most dramatic voice, with hand gestures) MOM, did a zaquito bite your arm?
Me: Are you asking if I have a MOSQUITO bite?
Monkey: (laughing her little booty off) Oh yeah, that's what I was trying to say...where did I get zaquito from?
Me: If only I knew...
Monkey: Well, whatever it was, you should put some spray on it.
Me: Thanks Captain Obvious.
Monkey: HUH?

Unfortunately, I don't think it was a moquito, or even a mysterious little zaquito...I'm pretty sure I have a little spidey bite. GAG.

Catching Up...

I feel like we've had a whirlwind couple of weeks here! Starting with our good friends Travis and Andrea's Wedding, which was an absolute blast. Andrea looked amazing, and it is always so wonderful to see two people you care about starting their lives together. The reception was so much fun that I got home and realized I never even ate any of their gorgeous wedding cake. WHAT?!?!?! I love wedding cake...it's my favorite food group! I guess I was having a REALLY good time! The very next day we had the birthday party of all birthday parties for the kiddos. It was for all of the cousins, and they loved it! There was a bounce house, petting zoo, pony rides...too much fun. Ava, Liam, Hannah, Hunter and Aidan all have birthdays within a couple of months of each other, so we just threw it into one big party! A few days after that we packed up and headed to Houston, dropped the kiddos off with my Dad and Pam, then Jon and I left for our Anniversary trip to Key West. The day after we got back, he left for Charlotte, and threw me back into the real world. WHEW!!! Now here I am trying to catch up on everything from laundry to photos to finally getting all of my Christmas stuff packed away (totally mortified that I'm admitting to it still being up in the middle if Jan....but we've been kind of busy!). It was a fun couple of weeks though :)

Here are a few pics from the kiddos party!



Absolutely adorable cakes that my super talented friend Jennifer made for each of the kids!



Ava coming out of the bounce house for the zillionth time.



Liam on the pony! Ava wouldn't ride it until she saw her brother on it ;)



Kiddos about to dig in to their cakes!



...and a cheesy family pic.