11 posts tagged “weekend”
Despite my best attempt at fixing Rick's old bike it still wasn't quite right so he decided to upgrade his old bike to a full suspension (one of the things we picked up at Dick's last night) bike. He got to try it out today when we went on a bike ride from our house the roundabout way to Shadyside. We 'toured' Shadyside and some surrounding neighborhoods and then made our way back for a grand total riding time of 102 minutes (yes, those 2 minutes count!). It was a lot of fun and a nice change of pace from regular bike trail or Frick Park trail riding--though we did cut through part of Frick on our way home! The whole time we were riding there was a light drizzle...until the last 15 minutes of the ride and it began to come down really really hard. Every inch of me was soaked through to the skin. Complete with water running down my arms and legs and dripping off the tip of my nose. It was fun! (And very refreshing too). My pulled muscle thing has seemed to 'tighten' down into a hard small knot of tissue and isn't bothering me nearly as much. =)
After a brief respite (meaning shower and change of clothes) we went out for a late lunch/early dinner at the Olive Garden. Not very original, I know, but after fighting re-directed Parkway traffic the last two days we really didn't want to deal with any more long waits in traffic. We also went to Barnes & Noble where I picked up a 'how-to' cake decorating book (I'm determined to pipe icing perfectly one of these days!) that was on clearance. Then, we headed over to the mall where Rick bought me a fantastic Dooney & Burke purse for my birthday!! =D He really is so sweet and generous--I've had a perfect 'birthday weekend!'
I slept in very late on Saturday. Much later than my normal 'sleeping in late time.' Suffice to say that I ate lunch when I woke up!
Rick and I took both dogs over to Frick for a trail run. It was very hot but we managed to keep to the shadier parts and go only at a moderate pace. The dogs got to run in the creek for a fair portion of the run and that helped keep them cool. We came home, relaxed a bit, showered and then went out for dinner.
We went to the Thai Place in Shadyside and split an order of Pad Thai. It was by far better than our little local Thai place that is just around the corner from where we live. We stopped in two of my favorite stores--Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma before leaving to go to the Southside. There wasn't too much interesting us there and we decided to go to the Waterfront instead. We stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods and grabbed a few things and then we went to see 'The Bourne Ultimatum' at the movie theater. The 9 o'clock show was sold out and we had to wait for the 10 o'clock showing. Fortunately, we enjoy going to the restaurant upstairs at the theater and having a drink so that's exactly what we did until the movie was about to start. Rick was quite disappointed in the movie--didn't like the ending. I thought the ending could have been a bit better but it didn't stop me from enjoying the rest of the movie. =)
See that picture? It was taken with my phone. Yes, that's right. My phone. I've always wondered how my phone could be a 2.0 megapixel digital camera and take such small, not so nice pictures when it is supposed to be a better camera than my first original digital camera. Apparently sending the pictures to the Verizon Picture Place (which is free) shrinks them down to the blurred things that I've been forcing everyone to look at. If I email them to myself, then I get big beautiful pictures. I'm only signed up for 20 picture messages a month to non-verizon members before I start being charged so I'll have to be very careful with them because I could see them beginning to add up rather quickly! It's clueless I am sometimes.
Anyways, the kids were away for the weekend with family so Rick and I have been keeping pretty busy. I had all day Friday to myself and I couldn't even make it through the day by myself! I took Bob with me to Frick Park for a 30 minute trail run and then came back to shower and change. Then, I headed down to Rick's office and we drove over to Lawrenceville together where he had to see a client for work. We stopped at the Starbucks in Bloomfield for coffee and to share a slice of blueberry coffee cake (so-so, i'm not a fan of blueberries).
Rick had to go back to work for awhile and I didn't want to lounge around the office with him as that would hardly allow him to be productive so I decided to go shopping! I stopped at Michaels for a few things I need for a swap that I am a bit behind on (this is the last one I'm doing for a long while and the only one I've ever been behind on) and then went over to Barnes & Noble. A friend of mine had gotten me a gift card to the bookstore for my birthday and I used part of it to pick up an interesting book. Then, I went to Ann Taylor, where I didn't find much other than a light blue tank top that was on clearance. They are in the middle of switching from summer to fall things so I'll have to keep checking back because I've got all the things I liked from their last summer collection. At Macy's, I found a white skirt with big red flowers embroidered around the bottom hem that goes perfect with a red tank top. Luckily, since the skirt is predominantly white and therefore there isn't much more time to wear this year, it was on clearance too!
I had to rush home and get ready to go out with Rick because I had spent too much time browsing the shops. Rick had gotten tickets to see 'The Full Monty' at the Benedum and we had dinner at Lidia's in the Strip before. It was a middling restaurant. The food was good to average, the atmosphere was a little strange to me for an Italian Restaurant. It felt a little too 'open' and not the usual 'intimate' feeling one usually finds in Italian restaurants. The show was fantastic and very funny. I would recommend seeing it to anyone who enjoys seeing live theater.
We stopped at Bossa Nova after the show for drinks. I'm not sure how long it's been downtown, but it's definitely 'newer.' They also serve tapas which we didn't try but many other people around us were. Their drinks were a bit pricey for what we ordered but well mixed and very good. The crowd here was very mixed too; an assortment of people coming from the show, a younger set trying very hard to look relaxed and an older set that was looking very bored. Still, it was a nice place to relax and hang out in after a show. =)
After a very long night's sleep (bed at 10 pm!! and waking up at 8 am!!) I got out of bed fully revived and ready to go. I had a cup of tea and some yogurt and made the kids breakfast. Then, I loaded up my bike and drove down to the jail trail. I rode from the start of the trail all the way to the Smithfield Street Bridge. I crossed over it and got on the Station Square/Southside Trail and rode that all the way to the Hot Metal Bridge. I didn't cross this bridge even though it would have brought me back to the start of the jail trail for two reasons. One--it's not fun making the mad dash across the bridge in between cars (the bike bridge isn't completed yet). I've done that before and it's scary! And secondly, I wasn't ready to end my trip that soon, so basically I turned around and backtracked the way I came for a total time of 56 minutes.
Not too bad this past week in regards to exercise I'd say. I chart from Sunday to Saturday. This past week:
Sunday--1 hr 24 mins bike ride (with Rick)
Monday--rest day
Tuesday--30 minute run on treadmill
Wednesday--2nd rest day of the week--plus we were in Cleveland and did a lot of walking there
Thursday--30 minute walk on treadmill at fast pace and 10% incline
Friday--60 minutes rollerblading on Jail Trail
Saturday--30 mins of hill running in Lawrenceville area
=D Today's ride was a decent way to start the week =D
After I came home, I showered and made lunch for everyone. Then Rick wanted to take his turn biking but he decided to bike in Frick and do some of the trails there. He rode to the park, but the kids and I drove over and spent some time playing at the playground.
Tristyn was in mid-swing when I took this picture. It took me about 8 attempts to get it because either he'd be too far away or I'd get a close-up of the soles of his shoes.
After I pushed Maia on the swings for awhile (she's only willing to pump half of the time) she wanted to 'zoom like an airplane' and I got this picture of her taken.
You can kind of see their tie-dye shirts that they made in the pictures. I think they did a fantastic job with them. Thanks again Missy and Mindy!
Right now, everyone is taking a brief break before we get ready to go to the movies. =D
Tada! More pink petunias! I haven't the slightest clue why I love petunias so much but I do.
Maia 'discovered' this visitor resting on one of our bare spots in our yard. We tried to wave him away from the spot we are trying to patch and get him to land anywhere else on the rest of the green lawn but he wouldn't oblige.
Maia had dance today. I'm getting really tired sitting in the car while she is in class because I always forget to bring something to do or read and it suddenly occurred to me: what a perfect time to squeeze in an extra run! I ran on the Lawrenceville side, zig-zagging my way down the hill for a block, across an alley for a block or two, then down another block, across an alley....and so on until I was all the way at the bottom. Then, I repeated what I had done but only came up this time. Then after I got to the top, I crossed Penn Avenue and ran a little bit on the Bloomfield side to even things out to a nice 30 minutes.
Once dance class was over, Maia and I stopped in Squirrel Hill to go to Starbucks. This is our little Saturday treat--she gets a chocolate milk and I get a nonfat raspberry decaf mocha. We didn't have a lot of time so we didn't linger long so we got everything to go and I got one to bring home to Rick as well. Tristyn isn't partial to chocolate milk; he was just happy to have the 2 hours or so away from Maia.
While I made lunch, Rick squeezed in a run and took Riley with him. Poor Bob! He didn't get to go and all he did was run up and downstairs looking for them and crying. He's definitely 'owed' the next time out!
We had a wedding in Waynesburg to go to; Rick's first cousin was getting married. We got ready and then dropped the kids off at Missy's house where they got to do all sorts of fun things. Much better than going to a wedding where they didn't know anyone! They swam, played on the computer, made tie-dye t-shirts and then came back to our house with Missy and Mindy and got to have pizza for dinner. Then they got to stay up extra late playing, playing and playing!
The wedding was very nice. The bride's dress was beautiful. It was one of those dresses that you couldn't help looking at and wishing girls and women got to get dressed up that fancy everyday. There were many many guests at the reception--we heard the count was at like 380!--but the place it was at was more than accommodating and decorated very nicely. Really, all in all, everything seemed to be picture perfect!
I only sleep in two days a month (every other Sunday) and this Sunday I only slept in until 9. Which is still decent, considering normally I wake up at 7. Anyways.
Again, Rick and I decided to go biking, but this time without the dogs. We loaded up the bikes and drove to Settler's Cabin Park to see if we could find the trails that we've heard about. Well we found it and it wasn't particularly great. It was very pretty and scenic but much too short. We did it a few times but only got 28 minutes in. (I installed my bike's pedometer today--not sure what you call a bike pedometer.
We packed the bikes up and went over to the Montour Trail. This time we got a much longer ride in (53 minutes) averaging about 15mph. My thighs have been begging me to stop this madness and I promised that they can rest....until tomorrow.
Afterwards, despite being sweaty we cleaned off the best we could and went to Scally's Golf Course and played some Par 3 golf. I got par 3 times! But...i double, triple, quadrupled bogey-ed every other time. And---
I hit a girl in the butt with a golf ball!! Agh!!!!
I was trying to chip the ball up on the green (i had hit it down a hill below the green) and after failing to do it the first two times I got a little too enthusiastic and really gave the ball a good whack. It flew up, up, up and bounced 3 times and hit the poor 10 year old girl in the butt. =(
I was so embarrassed. I went to retrieve my ball and apologized profusely and her parents were very kind and understanding about it. I felt awful though because she was crying. I didn't feel much like playing afterwards and luckily Rick saw this and suggested we let them get a distance ahead of us that was more comfortable to me. Fortunately, I made it through the last 5 holes without mishap except more bogeys.
Dinner was at Joe's Crab Shack where I had Snow Crab Legs. MMMMMMmmmmmm. Nothing else needs to be said.
Saturday Rick and I took the dogs over to Frick Park again. This time we both biked at the same time (45 minutes) while the dogs chased after us. Or rather, we chased after them! Both dogs were pretty fired up with energy. I definitely could feel it in my thighs because I had rode 60 minutes in Frick Park the day before and ran on the treadmill on an incline for 45 minutes the day before that!
Afterwards, we took a bit of a rest and then got ready to go out for dinner. We ate at the Common Plea restaurant where i had the 2nd yummiest gnocchis ever! They were in a Tomato Vodka Sauce. I only ate about half of them and brought the rest home for Rick and I to share for lunch on Sunday. I'm getting much better at halving most restaurant meals. =D
Then, we headed over to the Red Star Tavern in Station Square for martinis. Not the icky real martinis but the ones that taste more like candy. (I know, I know, probably not really a martini at all). Rick had the Decadence which was with a raspberry puree and caramel and I had half of a Chocolate Dream which was all...well chocolate stuff. Strangely, there was some female bodybuilder thing going on down in the hotel in Station Square. Way too many buff females wandering around. I'm talking biceps bigger around than my thigh!! I just can't understand why a female would want to go to such an extreme. =( Nonetheless, it made people watching as we sipped our drinks quite entertaining!
That night Rick and I met some friends at Buca di Beppo's for dinner in Robinson. I didn't care for our waittress; she was rather too abrasive to be serving people. Dinner at Buca's was as usual a satisfying and unsatisfying experience. Being there with friends and ordering family style is always a lot of fun, but as usual the food they offer was at a taste level I was capable of when I was 19 and only married a year. Ah well, it was still a good time.
