Family Visit & Sonoma

Last Thursday, Erik's parents came to visit. His Dad was in town for a conference for work and his Mom flew out to join him. We started the weekend by going to Hillstone for dinner on Thursday night.

On Friday, Erik was off and they went to  the Conservatory of Flowers and out to lunch.

 Then, we had dinner at Beach Chalet.

 The next day, we headed out to Sonoma and Napa. First, we went to Gloria Ferrer for some sparkling wine. Gloria is great because you sit down and can sit outside and just enjoy your wine instead of standing around in a tasting room.

It was SO nice in Sonoma - warm and probably in the low 80's. We had a table outside which was great!




Gloria is known for their sparkling wines and the one I had was delish!







We walked around the  grounds a little bit to see the cave where they store wine. After our tasting, we stopped at a little deli for sandwiches and they had the best TURKEY JERKY. haha. It was amazing, I want to drive back up there just to buy more.

 

 After Sonoma, we headed out to Napa....



 

A Devilish Halloween!

Happy Halloweeeeeen!

Hudson

On Monday night, the Tres Amigas went out for our monthly dinner. We went to Hudson in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland.
 

We shared a bunch of plates including:

Spicy cauliflower, capers, garlic, breadcrumbs

Grilled Haas avocado, ricotta salata, Hudson hot sauce

Caesar salad, torn croutons, Grana Padano & classic caesar dressing

Roasted red pepper pizza, spinach, garlic, burrata

Fontina, crimini mushrooms, spring onions, and thyme pizza

Everything was so delish. Our server was a little off though. She was very attentive at first and then we probably stayed an hour later than we should have because she was MIA.

When we got out of dinner, it was POURING rain. I was so glad I drove to work and to the restaurant so we did not have to get on the train in that weather.

The Giants also made it into the World Series so the bar area of the restaurant was packed with cheering fans. We don't really follow baseball but we will probably watch the series just to see who wins. My company HQ is also in Michigan so I have some co-workers who work in Oakland with me who are thrilled to see their hometown vs. their new town!

Sarah & Steve's Wedding

 On Saturday, we went out to Blackhawk Country Club for our friends Sarah & Steve's wedding. It was a beautiful day, everyone looked amazing, and it was a beautiful wedding!

Here comes Steve, ready to meet his Bride! Now that we have been through our own wedding, we were feeling nervous for both of them!

 Ah she looked so pretty!

 Big, beautiful flowers

 The wedding was right on the lake & a string quartet provided the wedding music

 After the wedding, we headed inside for the cocktail hour and reception

 Ready for the reception!

 Everything was white and gray

 Attending our first wedding as a married couple!

 Dancing time. We danced ALL night. Their DJ was awesome!

 Sarah & I

If you are sweating at the wedding, you know it was a fun party. haha

We had such a good time! They even had a taco truck after the reception which was awesome! We stayed overnight at the hotel which was very convenient. 

The next morning, we went to the brunch that they hosted. Great spread of breakfast, a mimosa bar, and a slide show of the happy couple. Can't wait to see them when they are back from their honeymoon!

Diner en Blanc

 On Friday night, Betsy, Jun, and I did something really fun! We attended Diner En Blanc. Diner En Blanc is "At the last minute, the location is given to thousands of friends and acquaintances who have been patiently waiting to learn the “Dîner en Blanc's” secret place. Thousand of people, dressed all in white, and conducting themselves with the greatest decorum, elegance, and etiquette, all meet for a mass “chic picnic” in a public space."
 
We got tickets a few months ago but were not told the location of the dinner. We were to dress in all white, bring white table settings, our meal/wine, and any decorations. The location was revealed at 3pm on Friday. We went up to the Marina Green for our dinner!

 People took the white dress code in many creative directions!

 We brought candles and flowers but other people had huge center pieces. Next year, we are going all out!

 Yum, cheese plate

 June ready to dive into the chicken parm meatballs and pasta that Betsy made

 Champagne!! We had a lot of champagne on Friday night. It kept us warm sitting outside. haha

 This dinner began over 20 years ago in Paris. Launched with just a handful of friends by François Pasquier over 20 years ago, Paris' Dîner en Blanc now assembles nearly 15,000 people each year. The French capital's most prestigious sites have played host to it: the Pont des Arts, the Eiffel Tower site, the Louvre Pyramid, the Trocadéro Esplanade, Place Vendôme, the Château de Versailles, the Esplanade de Notre-Dame, the Esplanade des Invalides, the periphery of the Place de l'Étoile, the Champs-Élysées, Place de la Concorde and last year: The Carousel du Louvre. The Paris police tend to tolerate this ‘wild' gathering, if not perhaps even wishing they could join in!(read more)

 So fun. Everyone was super friendly - we all shared tables and offered one another food. It was a great experience.

Can't wait for next years dinner!

80%

Evie got a good review at the Vet but she is not 100% yet. She is 80% and that is great. The Vet said that her leg looks great and we can increase her activity, with some limitations. 

Right now, her leg is weaker than the other one so we need to build up the muscle again and get her strong. If we have her do too much, she could get tendonitis or pull a muscle. There is a lot of soft tissue in her leg that still needs to heal. Essentially, she will be healing for the next 3-4 months. 

What she CAN do now:

• Unlimited walks
• Unlimited hikes
• Swim
• Jump in and out of the car
• Jump on the bed/couch

What she CANNOT still do:

• Run around like a maniac at camp
• Run around like a maniac on her long leash
• Go crazy running and playing with other dogs

Ahhhh le sigh .I was *hoping* that she could go to camp and be freeeeee but that is not happening. Luckily, I think her camp will be able to help us keep her safe with some calm companions and maybe a walk or two. I'm calling them today to find out. 

After I picked her up, she was so exhausted. She zonked out on the couch. I am so lucky that work is so flexible with this situation. I was able to leave early to go get her and finish the day at home.

80 degree October

It's October and 80 degrees here in SF! We have leaves turning colors and falling off trees but this warm weather is here. Apparently it is the last week of warm weather before the rain starts. We are hoping to get some pumpkins this weekend!

In other news, AMC is running a Jason marathon. They have a few movies on every night. I never watched these because I thought they were so scary but now, they are pretty funny. Is any horror film from the 80's even scary? The funniest thing is Jason keeps "dying" in all of these movies but somehow they made about ten Jason films. Too funny!!



Today, Evie is at the vet getting her re-check X-rays which means, if all looks good she can be back to normal activity. FINGERS CROSSED because we need to not be worried about her anymore, let her RUN, and go to camp. She is dying to be with other dogs. We have a wedding this weekend and she is scheduled to go to camp. She will have to probably play-rest-sleep-repeat. She is out of shape and will be achy after playing for a few minutes!

Nike Follow Ups

Here are some additonal photos from the race from SF Gate.


Yep, there was a gospel choir right around mile 2 or 3.

Our Team In Training SF Team raised $250,000 for cancer this season. That is amaaaazing!!!

Our thoughts on doing this again...
Heather
Before the race: I am never doing another half marathon. I am not built for these.
After the race: That was fun! Let's do another one!!

Erik
Before the race: This is a bad idea. 20 miles was hard. 26.2 will be even harder
After the race: I'm never doing this again. ---> Next Day "Maybe I will do one once a year"

I think the anticipation leading up to the race starts to wear on you and then it is such a great feeling to finish and cross that finish line that you are pumped to do another race.

We found some fun races to run in November. The weather here is back in the 70's and 80's this week which is awesome!!! We are both a little sore still from the race. My right IT band is pretty achy and foam rolling that area hurrrrrrts! Hoping to get out for a run later today though.

Nike Marathon 2012

 This morning, we got up at 5am to get ready for the race. We did not sleep that well in anticipation of getting up early. We got up and were able to get ready easily since we had laid everything out.We called a cab to bring us down to Union Square for the start of the race.

Here we are pre-race around 6:30am. We separated at this point and headed into our corrals.

 Our Training Buddies. We have spent four months carpooling and brunching post run - it has been a lot of fun!!

 The start of the race. We started downtown and were corralled by block which was a pretty good method.

 Erik didn't start until about 10 mins after the gun and I started 20 mins after the gun - that is how long it took to move the corrals through.

Here is the course:

Please note the elevation on this course!

 We started in Union Sq, thru the Financial District, out to the Embarcadero to the Wharf. This is where we hit our first baby hill (because I knew what was ahead) to bring us up into the Marina. The next hill leading into the Marina was jam packed with people.

 This woman was inspiring - she had to have been in her 70's out there running!

 You cannot read this at all but this girls shirt said, "If I collapse, please pause my Garmin." Garmin is the same watch I have that tracks your time/pace/mileage.

 Mile 4-6 were in the Marina - nice & flat. I saw my friend Bailey who made a sign and was cheering for me!! She ran Nike a few years ago and went to cheer her on so it was great to see her on the course!

 Mile 6-10 were hills. And they were steep. This started the climb into the Presidio...

 Still going. It flattened out for a little bit and then continued up hill. This was an area where I definitely walked, which I knew I was going to do.

 Running up in Seacliff, past all of the huge homes...

 There were these great signs on the course to keep us going!

 There were a lot of bathrooms, water stops, free Clif Shot Blcks and Luna bars on the course. My favorite stop was where there were orange slices- yum!

 The weather was foggy and cool - typical! I felt bad for people who traveled to this race because they could not see the GG Bridge AT ALL and I heard some people saying they were looking forward to a picture near the bridge.

 When we saw the beach, it meant we only had 3 miles to go. When I saw the 10 mile mark, I thought, "Wow, I can't believe we are already at 10 miles!" This is very different from how I felt in my first half marathon. I remember hitting the 10 mile mark and thinking, how am I going to get to the end!?

 We came down the beach, into GG Park, turned around and came out back to the beach to finish. I finished around 2:50. I was hoping for a better time but at the same time, this course is HARD. Maybe if I was on a flatter course, my time might be different. All in all, this was so excited to be a part of this race and the time does not really matter to me.

 After I finished, I went to the TNT tent where they had a free lunch for runners and more importantly, places to SIT. I stopped in for a little bit but went back out to the finish chute to look for Erik.

Here he is coming into the finish!! He finished in 4:15. That is an AWESOME time for a first time marathon!!!

We were pretty sore after our race. My hips and hamstrings were killing me. Erik was really sore & had a stomachache. After eating Gu, Blocks, Gatorade, etc, your stomach can really feel funny. He said the race course was great until he had to go out and run around Lake Merced. There were not a lot of spectators or cheering out there and he was ready for the race to be over. He said Mile 22 was like the breakdown zone - people were walking, stretching, and crying. This has to be the point where you feel like, how am I going to finish?? He powered through to finish though. So proud of him!!

 Here we are after the race!!! We did it! We are so proud of ourselves for training together, fundraising together, and completing this race.

 

At the finish line, men in tuxedos were there with Tiffany boxes!! We got these great necklaces to commemorate the run. 

This was a great race. Running with TNT can be very emotional and I definitely felt that during this race. You realize that this is not a race but something bigger that so many of us have contributed to. People are on the course cheering for you and encouraging you - it is really moving. Even Erik felt that this would have been a lot harder had all those TNT people not been on the course encouraging him.

We are also so overwhelmed by the outpouring of support we received from our friends & family. The time that people took to come to our fundraisers, donate to us, and encourage us was really astonishing. We received so many texts on Sat night and Sunday Am just wishing us well and people telling us how proud they were of us. It really makes us feel blessed to have such great people in our lives. 

After the race, I went over to get a big salad from the store across the street. I had my TNT jersey on and a woman asked me if I ran the race today. When I said yes, she thanked me. She just said, "Thank you so much for running this in honor of beating cancer." A nice way to end our race day. 

#RunNWM