Philip's Parents and Dave Visit!

This was Philip's parents first visit to New York City, so we were really excited to host a fun visit for them! We have been living here almost a year and have now figured out our favorite restaturants and activities to do with our guests. His parents, Ken and Sue, and his youngest brother, Dave, were visiting for five days and we couldn't wait to show them around and spend some time with them. We hadn't seen his parents since October when we surprised Sue for her birthday.

When they arrived on Wednesday, we showed them our apartment and our neighborhood and then headed to the Carnegie Deli for dinner. Carnegie Deli has the most ridiculous size portions and so we all shared pastrami and rueben sandwiches. It was a lot of meat! Here's a photo of us after our meal.

Since we were already on Broadway we decided to walk off some of our dinner and walked to Times Square, which is always a must-see! Time Square is near 42nd & Broadway and is constantly awake 24 hours a day. There is actually a law that every business, retail store, restaurant, etc in Times Square must have a certain amount of bling on the outside of their building. It makes sense and it's pretty unbelievable. Everyone who lives in New York, avoids Times Square because of all the people, but it is always fun to go there - you never know what you're going to see! We had a great time just walking around and we found some nice tourists from Kansas to take our photo.

After Time Square we decided to walk to Rockefeller Center and we found a wonderful spot to stop for a drink and enjoy the moment - which was at the Rink Bar at Rockefeller (formerly the ice skating rink) but a bar & restaurant in the summer. We sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather and wonderful company. It was a really nice evening and a great way for Philip's family to start their vacation. Here's a photo of us a the Rink Bar.

Taste of Nebraska in NYC!

Ever since I moved here I have been hearing about this Taste of Nebraska event coming to NYC. I decided to join the committee last fall when the event was scheduled for October, but we thankfully decided to move it to the spring and hosted the event on Saturday, May 9th. Being on the Committee, I was one of the "lucky" volunteers to pick up the food that was delivered to NYC at the drop-off location near LaGuardia airport. I took a half-day on Friday and Kiersten, Kim, Courtney, another volunteer, and me all drove to pick up the boxes and boxes of food! We had 3 cars, but we filled them all so Kiersten and I had to stay behind and called a taxi to pick us up and the remaining food. Here's a photo of us waiting for the taxi with the last of the Rotella's bread boxes.

Speaking of food - we had a lot of it and it all came from Nebraska! We had shipped 1200 mini Runzas, 120 Valentino's pizzas, 20 dozen Miller & Paine cinnamon rolls, 25 dessert pizzas, 600 Verdigre Bakery kolaches and "N" cookies, 50 lbs of UNL Dairy cubed cheese, 100 Fairbury hotdogs, tons of Rotella's bread and UNL Dairy ice cream! It was crazy. The event took place on Saturday from 3:30-7pm and the Irish Rogue, the watchsite of the Husker games in NYC.

Included in the $50 admission was unlimited beer, wine and soda - which is definitely a good deal here in NYC! About 200 Nebraskans showed up and we had a great time. There were lots of silent auction items and a general store featuring all items from Nebraska. Everyone loved it! People were going crazy buying Dorothy Lynch salad dressing and James Arthur wine.

And the food was delicious! I forgot how much I missed Runzas! Well, the good thing is I won't have to wait too long to eat one as we had SO MUCH extra food that our entire committee took home dozens of frozen Runzas and Valentino's pizza. We still have about 40 mini Runzas in our freezer and two pizzas! I think I need to plan a "Mini-Taste of Nebraska" at our apartment. :)

One of our newest Committee members, Marsha, is a clothes designer and she made shirts at our event. I was wearing one of her shirts that has the screen print of an airplane with the words "Nebraska, Enjoy flying over us!" They were a hot selling item! Here's a photo on the right of Courtney, me and Marsha all wearing the shirts. At the end of the night we started selling the frozen pizzas and frozen Runzas. We started out with $20 a pizza, then it came down to $10 and then make a deal! On the left is a photo of Kiersten selling the pizzas at the Registration Table. We probably had 50 leftover!

On the right is a photo of Philip, me and Kim, another Committee member enjoying the open bar.

Overall, the event was a HUGE success and it was fun having all of my friends on the committee! We are looking forward to hosting the event again in two years!

New Jersey Marathon - Philip's Race!

Two weeks after the Boston Marathon, Philip ran the New Jersey Marathon in Long Branch, New Jersey. He had chose this marathon because it's close to New York (2 hour train ride) and it was only two weeks after Boston so we could train together. I ran the Half Marathon too so we ran the first 13.1 miles together.

Long Branch is a beautiful beach town along the New Jersey coast. I hope to go back to the area again just to hang out on the beach, especially since it rained the entire race! It didn't hold back Philip from having a good time, though. He finished with a record time 3:35:09 beating my best time, which was his goal of course! :)

I had a fast half too finishing at 1:41.29. Philip went out really fast and strong for the first half (a little too fast) and started to hit the wall at mile 16. But he held up the rest of the

race and did awesome! The photo above on the left is of Philip just near the finish. You can see the coast behind him.

It was a great marathon but the rain was a bummer, especially at the end of the race. Philip could barely walk because he was so sore and it was pouring outside. The walk seemed to take forever from the race finish to the train station. We stopped to have some lunch at this pizza place and then headed home. We were tired and Philip was so sore. I think it took him a full week to feel "back to normal" again.

Here's Philip with his medal smiling through the pain. :)

The Boston Marathon - Race Day!

Race Day was finally here! I left the hotel at 6am to meet Susan at the bus pick-up. Every runner takes a yellow school bus to the start of the race in Hopkinton, MA. The race has a late start with my wave at 10am, but we still needed to board the buses at 7:15am. Susan and I sat together chatting with the other women we met on the bus exchanging race stories and sharing our excitement and nervousment for the race ahead of us. The drive took about an hour and as we were traveling out there I just kept thinking..."We're going to run this all the way back to Boston? - that's a long way!" When we arrived in Hopkinton the first thing we did was get in line for the porta potty. We had 2 1/2 hours before the race start. After we got out of the porta potty line we started looking for Meg, one of the twins who was running the race, and her nephew. We finally found them but decided we better go back in the hour-long porta potty line before the race started. So back in line we were again.

Finally, the time had come for us to get lined up for the start! Everyone was divided by different wave times, but I decided to stay with Susan's wave so we could run the first part of the race together. The day was cold and I wasn't sure what I should wear. I ended up running in my skirt and a long sleeve shirt. And right at 10am - we took off!

The run was beautiful and the crowds were in full force. I've never been to race with such wonderful crowds. I felt good throughout the entire race and was impressed with how well Susan was running too. My favorite part of the race was at Wellesley College near mile 13, where the all-women campus is out in surges screaming the runners on. You can actually hear the cheering a mile away. Everyone always talks about the Wellesley girls, but I had no idea how loud they would actually be and how much I would need and love their encouragement. When we passed the girls - they all had signs that said "Kiss Me!" and a lot of male runners actually did! It was pretty funny. I was very entertained.


Susan and I ran together until about mile 16 when I suddenly had a burst of energy and took off ready to conquer the Boston hills. The first of the hills was probably the worst cause it seemed to never end and once I reached Heartbreak Hill it wasn't so bad because I was so excited to be there knowing I was at mile 21 with only 5 miles of downhill left! There was lots of energy and huge crowds as I arrived closer to Boston.

I think I had a smile on my face the entire race and truly enjoyed every mile of it. It was such an honor for me to run Boston and I was so thankful to be there, especially with my good friend Susan and with the support of Philip cheering me on. I felt very lucky that day.

I finished the race in 3:51:15 feeling great! Above is my favorite photo of Philip and me after the race. Soon after we found Susan who had a great time coming in a little over 4 hours and placing 26th place in her division - Amazing!

After the race we all walked over to Marie's apartment for the post-marathon party. We had champagne, wine, and lots of food! It was such a great way to celebrate our accomplishment. Here's a photo of Susan and me after the race showing off race bibs and happy to be done! Marie had a special cake made for Susan and we all enjoyed it at the party.


Our Boston weekend had been perfect...maybe too perfect. :) Philip and I decided to take the $15 Chinatown bus home from Boston since Susan was staying an extra night. Everything was going great until our bus broke down in the middle of the Interstate in the pouring rain an hour away from New York City. We waited two hours for a new bus and didn't get home until 2am. I guess that's what you get for a $15 bus ride. But the trip home did not ruin our Boston experience - we had an amazing time and I can't wait to go back and run the Boston Marathon again!!!

The Boston Marathon - Red Sox Game!

The day before the Boston Marathon, Philip and I were hoping to get some tickets to the Boston Red Box game and luckily right when we walked off the subway, we scalped some tickets! We were so excited. It was an early afternoon game on Sunday and it was absolutely beautiful outside. Our tickets were in the outfield but we had seats - everyone has a seat at Fenway Park. It's actually the smallest Major League baseball field so all of the seats are good. It was a great game and the Red Sox won! Here's a couple photos of Philip and I at the game and Philip outside of the tailgate area.

After the game we decided to walk around the city. I really wanted to walk through the Boston Commons and the Public Garden. As we were walking it was clear that we had run into the Public Garden as it was the most beautiful and peaceful park. I could have spent hours there. We spent enough time there to capture just a few photos that give a glimpse

of the breathtaking green space.

That evening we made plans to have dinner with Susan and her friends including Marie and the twins (Beth & Meg), who are life-time runners and friends who Susan had met in line at a marathon. We had dinner at this adorable restaurant called Stefani's and we had the best table in the place - the round one right by the corner window. The meal was delicious and it was fun to hang out with these amazing and inspiring women. I hope I can be like them someday! Here's a photo of us all at dinner. Philip is the token guy, but I think he had a great time and the women adored him! :)

Pictured in the photo on the right is: (back row - Beth, Susan, Meg and front row - me, Philip and Marie)

We had such a great dinner but needed to head back to the hotel to get some sleep since Susan, Meg and I all had 26.2 miles to run in the morning!!!

The Boston Marathon!

The Boston Marathon was finally here and I was so excited! I had been training hard, running my hills and long runs and felt ready. My friend Susan and I were both running in it this year for the first time. This was the 113th Annual Boston Marathon - the oldest and most prestigious race in the world. The Boston Marathon is the only qualifying race so every runner at Boston had to run a previous marathon at a certain time to be able to run. For my division, I had to run it in 3:40 and I made my time in Philadelphia this year finishing in 3:37. So ever since then, I've been training and preparing for this day to arrive.

The race is on Monday every year on Patriot's Day, which is always the third Monday of April. We left on Saturday morning. Susan picked me and Philip up for our four-hour journey to Boston. When we arrived we met one of Susan's best friends, Marie, and checked out Marie's apartment in the city where Susan would be staying and the post-marathon party would be held. Her apartment was adorable and on the famous Commonwealth Avenue. You could even see the Green Monster (Fenway Park) from the bedroom window!

Right away we grabbed some lunch at U-Burger and then headed to the Marathon Expo to get our bibs, t-shirt and goodie bag. I absolutely love expos! You're surrounded by all these runners and get to check out all this running gear and Boston Marathon attire and lots of free samples! Here's a photo of me picking up my bib - #15350. I couldn't believe it! All the official Boston Marathon merchandise was bright yellow and blue so you could spot all the runners walking around the city. We all had this special bond - we had all qualified and were running Boston on Monday! It was pretty cool. During the expo I also got to meet the famous Kathrine Switzer, the first girl to officially run the Boston Marathon! Here's a photo of me, Kathrine and Susan after she signed the book she wrote, "Marathon Woman".

It was also me and Philip's first time to Boston so we were excited to explore the city. The first thing we noticed was how young iit was. It is such a college-town with so many universities in Boston. Our hotel was in Cambridge so we were right by Harvard. And it was just like you would picture, very New England and with all the crew teams out on river in the morning.

That evening Philip and I decided to walk around Cambridge and have dinner in Harvard Square at this large brew house and then we walked around the square looking for a place for dessert. We circled twice and almost gave up until we found the absolutely

BEST dessert place! It's called Finale and the place only serves desserts! We couldn't believe we'd found such a perfect place. We were so impressed with the menu and since I had no guilt knowing I was running a marathon in two days...we decided to get the sampler platter. Here's a photo of us with all of our desserts. It was so delicious! We are really trying to find a place like that here in New York, but we haven't found anything like it yet.

Sarah's Wedding in Florida

On April 3, 2009 my really good friend from elementary school, Sarah, was getting married in Florida. I couldn't miss her wedding and I was excited to visit her again in Florida - my sister and I had visited her two years ago and had a blast! It also so happened that Philip had a wedding that weekend of a college roommate in Cincinatti. What are the odds?! I was pretty bummed he couldn't go with me, but it turned out almost better because my mom decided to go to the wedding so we got to hang out in Florida together! I hadn't seen her since she came and visited me in December so it was a good time to see my mom.

We had such a WONDERFUL time. It was so great to see Sarah and her family and to catch up with everyone. Sarah looked absolutely beautiful and so happy. I really like her husband, Joel. He's a great guy - very fun and definitely adores Sarah. About two years ago my sister and I visited Sarah in Florida and had a blast with her and Joel. It was also nice to have a little beach time too! My mom and I stayed in Seminole at this Holiday Inn Habourside. We were a short walk from the beach and they also had two pools. We both want to go back! It was cold in both New York and Omaha when we visited, so we really appreciated the Florida sun.

Here's a view of the beach - beautiful!