The past 2 weeks...

As you can see... I haven't posted my usual running & cooking post the past two weeks. Rest assured... there has still been plenty of running and a little bit of cooking and a lot of other fun things going on. This past weekend was the big event of Cleve & Ashley's wedding and those two know how to throw one great party! But there were plenty of projects and festivities happening before the big day. So here's what I've been up to...

1. I got my Martha Stewart on! - My last minute wedding projects included making signs for the prop picture booth and mustachios on a stick! I am now fluent in die cut machines, chalkboard paint and what tape not to use (might have lost a letter on Ashley's trophy wife sign). But everything else turned out well and the picture booth was awesome!

2. Girls Night Out - Last night out with the bride-to-be which included a yummy dinner at Seastar, some bar hopping in Wallingford and a huge rainstorm! Mirra & I left early as we had to get up early for work the next morning, but apparently we missed some awesome Salsa dancing.

3. Rehearsal Dinner - After a quick rundown of the wedding, we headed to Patterson Cellars for the Rehearsal dinner. This included garlic rolls, giant slices of pizza and delicious brownies, cookies and rice krispie treats! I kept reminding myself that I had to run 5 miles in the morning, but that did not stop me from eating dessert. :) It was a fun night and a nice way for Cleve & Ashley to visit with everyone before the wedding.

4. Mani/Pedi - on Friday Ashley had invited all the girls to the nail salon for manicures and pedicures. I had both done. I've maybe had this done once or twice before in my life. But that may change... the pedicure was amazing! Friday night was spent in downtown Seattle, hanging out with the bridal party and then making wedding favors.

My hair before it was combed out

5. The Big Day! - Hair started at 7am! Thankfully, not with mine. :) I headed back to the hotel with the bride after her workout. No, you heard me right... she went to a Fly Fitness class at 8am on her wedding day. She's awesome. The morning was spent getting our hair done, makeup done, making sure the bride had food and water and trying not to get high from the cloud of hairspray in the room. By 1:30 we were in the limo headed to the Venue for pictures.

The wedding was awesome! The ceremony was short and sweet and most of the tears came from the audience, not the bride and groom (surprisingly). Then there was delicious food, fun props at the photo booth, a chocolate fountain, cupcakes and hours of dancing! I was so happy to be a part of it all!

  6. Sunday - Eric made us lattes before we headed to Seattle. They were perfect and we got to use our new eco-friendly coffee cups which I am totally in love with.

Barista Eric

Delicious Soy Latte!

 

Despite being a little chilly, it was a sunny, clear and beautiful day. We had lunch at the market before going to check-in to the hotel - which was a room as a gift to the bride & groom. Which we graciously decorated for them....

By the time we got done in Seattle, we had successfully talked ourselves into moving our long run to Tuesday. So we headed for home to make meatloaf cupcakes. Yes, more fun with dinner in cupcake form... and another delicious recipe from Ashley. And I let Eric do all the mixing (which is the fun part because you get to use your hands!).

Mashed potatoes make up the topping

7. Mariner's Game - On Monday we met up with Eric's friends (visiting from Utah) and the newlyweds and had dinner at Crabpot and then went to the Mariner's game.

And in case seafood in a bucket wasn't enough, there was also a bacon wrapped hot dog topped with pulled pork and chocolate cake to be consumed at the game....

8. Run Chocolate Cake, Run!! - Amazingly enough, we still made it up on Tuesday morning for our 9 mile run. I made Eric run along the boring path along the river with the sun shining, ducks swimming and birds flying in formation. He said it was like a scene from a movie. Rough, I know. The only bad thing is that my Ipod and Eric's Ipod are NOT on the same page. When I hit 9 miles on mine, we still had a little under a mile to go on his. I stopped mine, and we kept running until we hit 9 on his. We could have actually run closer to 10, who knows. Either way, the pace looked good on mine and I still got to hear Lance congratulate me at the end.

And for anyone keeping track... I don't love the Espresso flavored GU... but the Kiwi Strawberry was alright. I have one more flavor to try this weekend on my last long run before the race. Oh boy!!! 8 days is not very long!