a goal met

at christmas, i weighed myself and was quite shocked at the scale. assuming it was broken, i kept with the family tradition of eating and drinking over the break.

back at home, i checked again on my scale. eek... either it was broken, or all the beers and food and eating out since i moved to chicago had caught up with me.

i've never tried to lose weight before, but i realized i needed to before it got out of hand. i'm only 28; i can do this!

the only exercise i remotely liked was running, although i couldn't run but maybe 2 miles (i laugh now at how i thought that was a "long" run). my friend in nashville kept inviting me to run the country music half marathon with her, but 13 miles seem soooo long and frankly impossible. but i thought i could sign up, pay, train, and if i still couldn't do it i didn't have to.

so january 2009, i sign up and pay $100. i find a training schedule online and tape it to my fridge. i start weighing myself every day or so and writing down how many miles i did, adding them up at the end of the week. i figured if i was going to do this right, i should change my diet. yes, i gave up beer until the half. and most breads, and pizza, and pretty much all sugar. but slowly.

training started as 2-3-2 during the week and 4 mile long run on the weekend. then it bumped up to 3-4-3 and 5 on the weekend and so on. because this is chicago and january, i had to run on a treadmill. oh those days were long and boring. and i would get so tired i kept telling myself 'you're never going to make it to mile 13' (which coincendentally is not a suggested training method). the first time i went for 7 miles on a saturday, i had to lay on the floor and stretch for a good hour and a half after. what did i get myself into?

but the weight started coming off, and i wasn't missing beer, and my clothes fit better. and other people noticed and paid complements. by the week before the half, i was doing 5-6-5 and 10 on the weekend. and i liked it. i enjoyed my saturdays: they were all to myself, i would run for 2 hours (2!), and just think. i wouldn't be that tired either; i would stretch, eat, shower and be ready to go. i even went dancing one saturday night after a 10 mile run (although, i'm not sure my feet were happy with me on sunday).

so it all came down to april 25th. that thursday before, i flew to nashville to stay with my friend, j. friday we went to the expo, bought matching running shirts, stocked up on some beer for the next day, and went to italian. saturday we woke up and j's boyfriend drove us downtown to the starting line near the tennesee titans stadium. the first corral started around 7:30am; we crossed the start line around 8am.

it is hot. it is hilly. it is humid. but the whole city lined the race route; people handed out orange slices and kids sprayed us with water from garden hoses and sprinklers. there were bands along the route playing upbeat songs and tens of thousands of runners all headed for the finish line.

i have a strategy: start at a slower-than-you-want-to pace for 2 miles, walk through the water station & stretch (~1 min), run to the next mile, walk 1 min, run to the next mile, walk 1 min, and so on until you are done. that lasted me til mile 11.5; it was uphill and i frankly had to walk more than a min. so i walk to mile 12 and pick it back up for the last 1.1 miles.

and i finish! i really finished! i never thought i would! i got done in 2:34:00. not bad for a first try. my friend comes in later and afterwards we go to five guys burgers and friends for the biggest juiciest burger. tasted like heaven. and when i get home, i have the first ice cold beer of 09. and it was gooood.

running items i could not do without:

• ipod,
• nike+ ipod attachment (thanks b-rad),
• training schedule that you can cross off,
• scale,
• calendar to write down miles & weight,
• good shoes (nikes),
• good socks,
• bandaids,
• an "it" song (at the moment, it's "just dance" by lady gaga)

stories along the way:

• my brother-in-law got me the nike+ ipod attachment for christmas to motivate me and my sisters. my cat stole the receiver that plugs into the ipod and hid it somewhere after i'd only had it for about a month. i tore up my house trying to find it to no avail. so i bought another one...
• i wore two random socks because i couldn't find any matching pairs. one sock had some kind of symbols stitched in the arch and it wore the biggest blister in my left foot (hence why bandaids became so important. and good socks.)
• the italian restaurant we went to the night before the race wasn't up on the latest local news and only staffed one server that night. the place was so busy that the poor 17 year old dude couldn't keep up and kept forgetting things. horrible service, but it wasn't his fault.
• i signed up for the soldier field 10 mile and the chicago 13.1 half marathon to keep up with the running!

update:
5/23/09 soldier field 10 mile finish time 1:44:26
6/07/09 chicago 13.1 finish time 2:17:16

l.p.z.

lincoln park zoo - begun in 1868 with a pair of swans. add a bear cub, a bison (first born in captivity), over 1250 other animals, and 140+ years and you have the zoo as it stands today.

lincoln park formal gardens (just outside the zoo)

it's free and close to where i live, so i visit often. i always find myself checking up on the deer, zebras, monkeys, tiger, and lions. here are some of my favorite images.

an i-pod running playlist

in no particular order, these are the songs i love to run to! i tested them today on a 10 mile run.

madonna - ray of light
ashlee simpsom - love me for me
jamiroquai - cosmic girl, canned heat
daft punk - high life, aerodynamic
black eyed peas - let's get it started
the knack - my sharona
fatboy slim - the rockafeller skank
mamma mia soundtrack - dancing queen
one-t - bein' a star, the magic key
soul decision - faded
house of pain - jump around
kt tunstall - suddenly i see
pussycat dolls - when i grow up
eddy herrera - tu eres ajena
daddy yankee - machucando
the darkness - i believe in a thing called love
will smith - gettin' jiggy wit it
no doubt - it's my life, i'm just a girl
outkast - hey ya
dead or alive - you spin me round
311 - do you right, plain
bob sinclar - the beat goes on, love generation
daniel beddingfield - gotta get thru this
gorillaz - feel good inc.
lady gaga - just dance
oakenfold - starry eyed suprise
britney spears - womanizer
our lady peace - the world on a string
juvenile - back that ass up

an experiment

today, april 10th, a nice spring day, i decided to go outside for lunch. i was blasted by some cold air coming off the lake and through the wind tunnels of the downtown buildings. man, that's weird. so i looked at weather.com and it IS chilly - feels like 30 degrees actually.

i was about to feel sorry for myself, but i really wanted to rub it in. so i looked up atlanta...

71 degrees.

alabama... 82 degrees.

new york... 56 degrees.


i was really starting to get mad. i thought, somewhere had to be colder than chicago! so i looked up iceland.




32 degrees...

arg!!

i am training for the country music half-marathon in nashville (less than a month away now!). excitement is brewing as i see the distances i run go up and my weight go down - i've lost 14 lbs since christmas :D

part of the training is to participate in smaller distance races a couple of times before the big race, to kind of see how you do in the race environment. i did a 5k in january in -2 deg windchill. it was fun; there was snow on the ground, it wasn't currently snowing.

today is the shamrock shuffle. it's an 8k (5 miles) and the longest race i would have run before the half. 32,000 people signed up. it's a huge and fun deal.

but i woke up this morning and there is a freakin' blizzard outside! it's march 29th! arg, this would never happen in atlanta. the silver lining is that the next few days, the temperature will be high enough to melt all the snow quickly. i'm so done with winter...

** update, only about 13,000 people actually showed up to run. i don't feel so whimpy now.

1 year

so it all began one year ago. well officially, it began in july 2004: my long slow process to chicago.

in june 2004, i started working for my company right out of school. when they offered me the job i was all "awesome, i'm getting paid!" but they threw in a company car and 10 weeks training at the home office in chicago. 'icing on the cake,' i thought. after a few weeks at the branch, i pack two suitcases and flew into o'hare airport.

i had been to chicago once before in the early 90s tagging along with my dad for an AIA convention. AIA = American Institute of Architects. apparently chicago is known for that: architecture. the only things i remember of chicago is that it was windy, the bulls had just won the 3-peat, and my parents left the kids in the hotel to order room service while they went to charlie trotter's.

so in summer 2004, it was a brand new city to me. ok, please don't laugh at me because i was somewhat oblivious in my youth. i didn't know chicago was in illinois, or on lake michigan, or that the sears tower was here. i'm just being honest. i knew where paris was and the gulf of mexico and i'd been to los angeles and new york. i just didn't think much about the midwest. oh, but i was missing out!

that summer i spent every day in a classroom, every afternoon walking around neighborhoods, and every evening on the lake front watching fireworks or movies or concerts. on weekends, friends would come visit and we'd explore the city together. this place was so alive! everyone outside! and it was nice in the middle of summer to be outside! i took the train, learned to navigate the city, had amazing food, and drank in all the beautiful architecture. the city was mesmerizing. i was the only person in my training class really sad to leave and go home. after training, i told my boss "once i pay my dues, i'm moving to chicago." and that was a cloud over his head for the next three and a half years.

i learned a great deal in atlanta and can truthfully say i worked with the best people i have ever known. but in the back of my mind, chicago kept calling. in the meantime, to satisfy my desire to be there, i found every possible way to get up there: training, meetings, presentations, and one girls' weekend in 2006. it was that weekend that i began my earnest search to transfer.

it figures when i decide to do something that nothing happens. i made calls, talked to people, searched the company website for jobs. nothing. and more nothing. i think it was one conference call with former trainees, that someone got a whiff that i was moving to chicago with or without my company. luckily, they wanted to keep me, so they put me in touch with the home office internal recruiter (why didn't anyone tell me she existed before?!?). within a month (november 2007), i had an interview for a position that i honestly wasn't excited about but would have taken just to move. i believe that Someone upstairs knew that wasn't a good idea, so i did not get that job. but i was asked to return as soon as possible to interview for another position. this one was actually in line with my skills and experience. i interviewed first week of january 2008, accepted a week later, and asked for a start date of april 1st (thinking that the city would have warmed up by then... ha).

i put my condo up for sale, found a place to live in chicago, arranged for a truck, and packed everything i own and moved on march 26, 2008.

so 1 year later, my condo is still for sale in atlanta, i still have boxes i haven't unpacked in my apartment here, and i do think upper-40s is warm! i've gone from knowing no one to having a growing group of friends. i've played every intramural sport from kickball and softball to volley ball and floor hockey. saw the cubs and sox play. went to the taste and the scene. been back to atlanta, been abroad, been on work trips, but now chicago is home.

da blues

this happens to me ALL the time. always triggered by returning from a fabulous vacation abroad. i should probably stop vacationing and... nah, i could never.

so i just returned from all my amazing travels and am sitting here at my desk eating my soup for lunch. oh how tremendously boring! one week ago, i was visiting the catedral de sal in zipaquirá, colombia before drinking mojitos out of half-coconut shells and partying til 4am at andres carne de res in chia, colombia.

two weeks before, i was spontaneously buying a eurostar ticket to paris for 1 night with my friends from london. in less than 36 hours, i had a beurre-sucre crepe in front of notre dame, watched dusk approach from the steps of sacre-coeur, had an amazing 4-course dinner and red wine at oh! duo in the 15th, saw la tour eiffel, and had the most delicious tea known to man....

two weeks before that, i was laughing the hardest i've laughed in a year with my sister and friends in brooklyn at radegast hall & beer garden over wallet phones and talking in numbers (you really had to be there).

so back in chicago, it's 40+ degrees but feels like 32. i had already packed the snow boots and scarves, but i should probably bring them back out.

march <> spring in chicago (sorry that was a little computer dorkism).

the only thing that keeps me going is: tulip days, cubs baseball, beach trip with family, training for 1/2 marathon, chicago summer festivals and concerts, possible trip to south carolina, new baby in the family and trip to atlanta in july, sister and friends coming to visit this summer, searching for a salsa dance club, and potentially the most amazing christmas & new years plans i'll ever have (i'll keep you posted).

** for photos, check http://www.flickr.com/photos/khakiaraki/

36 hours in paris

i planned my trip to london in november thinking that i wouldn't have an opportunity to see erin for a while if i didn't go over thanksgiving. well, work sent me to london in february, so i was back earlier than i expected. we were at an office for 14-16 hours a day, stepping out for triangle sandwiches at lunch and crawling back to the hotel after dark and after everyone else had left the office.

thankfully, i had gotten a good tour of london in my previous visit, so i had more time to relax with erin while in town. we ate at pasha, drank at lounges in south kensington, and in general hung out in erin's flat.

because the work i was completing required a weekend stay, friday night, erin, her flatmate frances, and i were all talking about what to do for the weekend. we came up with every plan from going to scotland, ireland, bath, or york. while looking at the train schedules, we noticed we could take the morning eurostar to paris for only £139. it had been 6 years since i'd been to paris and i was pratically salivating with excitement! we decided and bought tickets for a departure 7 hours later.

we went to st. pancras station at 6am and were on the road to paris just after 7am. we were so excited but also without a plan. we had no hotel, no map, no idea of what to do other than wander aimlessly around. we arrived at gare du nord in the 10th arr just before 10am. we walk outside and are immediately bombarded by gypsies. the ploy these days it to come up to you with a piece of paper asking if you speak english. i knew it was a diversion, but i had to warn erin and frances.

we head back into the train station to purchase a guide book with map and made our way to the châtelet metro stop. side note: the châtelet stop spans quite a few blocks with stairs, escalators and moving sidewalks transportating hundreds of people around underground. it can be quite confusing. i think we spent 25 minutes trying to navigate the labyrinth.

we exit and make our way to the Île de la cité: an island in the middle of the seine river, housing notre-dame and sainte chappelle. in 50 degree sunny weather, we sit at les deux palais for coffee and a croque-monsieur. it is somewhat of a tourist spot due to its proximaty to notre-dame, but we were starving and needed to sit down to start researching a hotel. at the cafe, we poured over the guidebook and blackberrys, making phone calls and trying to use my elementary french to book a room. we finally find one for €85 a night in the 14th arr near the cité internationale universitaire de paris, just a few stops south of gare du nord on the RER B.

a plan! after dropping off our luggage at the hotel parc montsouris (bare bones, thin walls, but a bed and bathroom and cheap; served its purpose), we head back into the city on the RER B. destination: notre-dame and a beurre-sucre crepe.

a stroll across pont-neuf and the rue de rivoli (and an attempted shopping experience at la samaritaine, but apparently it's closed for "security enhancements"):

and up to montmartre to watch the sun set from the steps of sacré-coeur:

back down to le marais, for tea at mariage freres and sweets:

and ending the evening at oh! duo in the 15th arr for an mouth-watering, plate-licking, four-course french meal and red wine.

the next day, we pay our respects (as all who visit paris should) to la tour eiffel. we wander the neighborhood and stop for a leisurely lunch at la patata, not quite ready to leave as our time was so short.

but our train departs at 5pm, so we head back to gare du nord, first saying goodbye to the louvre...to the Île de la cite and the seine....

au revoir paris... until next time...

for more photos: flickr: paris

walken

"I was walking
Like I said by myself
I was talking
To myself about you
Like I always do"
- wilco, "walken" from sky blue sky

one of my favorite songs. i also like to randomly text my sister with the lyrics. i always think of this song when i'm about to go somewhere.

for example...

i'm really excited because i have 3 weeks and 3 continents of travel ahead of me. first, for work, i'm headed to new york city. i'm going over the weekend to visit with the sis and hopefully get some good photographs.

then i come back and 2 days later head across the pond to london for work. i'll be there for a week and a half, and over the weekend i hope to go with my friend erin somewhere cool. maybe paris ;)

and THEN, i come back and have 1 day till i head south to colombia, south america to help my freshman college roommate celebrate her wedding. i'm making a stop in cartagena for a long weekend and then bogota for the rest of the trip. again, hoping that there will be some splendid opportunities for photos.

stay tuned...

** for photos, check http://www.flickr.com/photos/khakiaraki/

the white city

a reference to the grand city created in jackson park, chicago to host the 1892 columbian exposition. white because all the buildings were adorned with white stucco and electricity was introduced to light the boulevards at night, reflecting off the white buildings and creating a luminosity against the tenements of chicago. the city is the main character of erik larson's devil in the white city (a historical book written like a novel...i highly recommend).

this winter, "the white city" means something completely different. it means inches of snow covering every rooftop, sidewalk, and sandy beach. it means slightly gray skies and christmas lights still wrapped around tree branches.

and here's what it looks like:

the third coast

on a foggy day from my office or home, lake michigan actually looks like an ocean, spanning far til it meets the sky.

it is one of the 5 great lakes, the only lake fully in the U.S., and chicago is at the southwestern tip. the word michigan is actually derived from an ojibwa indian word mishigami, meaning "great water."

the lake has a surface area of 22,400 square miles which makes it the largest lake (by surface area) entirely in one country and it is the 5th largest lake in the world. it is also affectionately known as the "third coast" (after the atlantic and pacific) considering all the miles of sandy beaches that make the lake a vacation spot for millions.

the sand has a high quartz content, so it squeaks when you walk across it; people call it "singing sand." the water is quite chilly, getting in the low-mid 70s even in the height of summer (and trust me, i got in last august, and it was cooold).

lake michigan also hosts one of my favorite sports: sailing. currently the lake is covered with ice and occasionally mounds of snow; but come april, the beautiful boats start filling in the harbors dotting the lakefront with white. every wednesday, thursday, saturday, and sunday, races are held locally with hundreds of boats participating. my favorite view is of all of them headed downwind with their colorful spinnakers flying!

the highlight of the summer is the race to mackinac island, michigan. it is one of the longest fresh-water races in the world at 333 miles and celebrated it's 100th anniversary in 2008. hundreds of boats enter and spend anywhere from 33 - 69 hours sailing to the finish line. the fastest finish time was in 1998, when stars and stripes, captained by steve fossett, finished in 18 hours and 50 minutes. roy disney also set the monohull record in 2002 with a time of 23 hours and 30 minutes.

i stumbled across the beginning of this race one weekend in 2006 when i came to chicago with my sister for a visit. there was so much energy along the lakefront! hundreds of boats and thousands of people, sun shining and cool breezes blowing (you know they say "it's always cooler by the lake"). i'd eventually like to sail this race if i can find a good crew of people i'd like to spend up to 2 solid days with in cramped quarters!

the destination alone might be worth it though. mackinac island is a time capsule. a unique ordinances prohibits motor vehicles, so people get around by horse & carriage, bicycles, or foot. there is the beautiful grand hotel, built in the 19th century and boasts the largest wrap around porch. there's state park, haunted ghost tours, and an historic downtown. and an ice cream shoppe!

the lake also is home to a lot of small towns on the michigan and wisconsin shores. i'm not sure i'd like to actually go anywhere in michigan or wisconsin, other than mackinac, so i'm not going to do the research. i think there might be a winery in michigan. when do they have time to grow the grapes?

two thousand nine

this year is going to be a good one. you know how i can tell? well i can't actually, other than i've decided in my mind to have a positive outlook on work, life, family, love of all kinds. but most importantly, i know it's going to be a good year because i got a new camera for myself for christmas! i keep most of my photos here: www.flickr.com/khakiaraki, but i'll post some here to entice you.

i'd love to be a great writer and make you feel like you were in my new midwestern home by the words i could put on paper, um the screen. however, i feel i can best show you through photographs.

so unfortunately, i get home after the sun has already set and i do no have a tri-pod just yet, so taking photographs during the week is not possible. and for two weekends straight since i got the camera, it has been snowing (also not a good idea to get electronics wet).

so i decided to take pictures of things around the house:

this is mean kitty

and my plant that i've managed to keep alive
and my piano

and i snapped on shot of ol' john through the snow:

then i woke up and caught a sunrise:

over lake michigan

shining across the sears tower and windowed buildings

and came home once before the sun set:

there is NO editing to this photo! this is really what i see!

chicago is so beautiful, even through the snow and ice and sea of black puffer coats with hoods. and i know this will last a few more months yet, but i have a new definition of cold. as long as it's above 0° and not too windy, i'm ok.

2008 in review

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? left the south, went on a blind date, experienced sub-zero temperatures, saw snow and no one freaked out, became an auditor, sailed on a 40ft Sydney, played floor hockey…

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? yes, i had a running resolution to be debt free and it finally happened. well consumer debt free. now i have to get rid of my house.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? nope

4. Did anyone close to you die? nope, thankfully

5. What places did you visit? england, orlando, atlanta, wisconsin

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? sell my house (1 bedroom condo in fabulous midtown atlanta, interested?)

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? march 26 – moving day

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? becoming debt free

9. What was your biggest failure? being homesick even though I was so ready for change

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? nope

11. What was the best thing you bought? a plane ticket to england to visit my best friend

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? becoming debt free, making new friends, surviving a new culture-cold-new job

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? er...drinking too much (chicago is a beer town with a beer problem)

14. Where did most of your money go? a mortgage AND rent

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? going to atlanta to see my nephew!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? gavin rossdale’s wanderlust

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? A mix at times
b) thinner or fatter? A few more pounds (I think it was the beer…)
c) richer or poorer? Richer (no more debt) and poorer (2 housing payments)

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? praying

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? complaining

20. How did you spend Christmas? as a visitor in atlanta, living out of a suitcase and splitting my time between mom, dad, and sister

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? with chicago, yes. a person, no.

22. What was your favorite TV program? fox & friends

23. What did you do for your birthday in 2008? my sister came up to chicago to surprise me. i took ½ a day off from work and we had cake for breakfast and watched "you’ve got mail"

24. What was the best book you read? i honestly didn’t read any good books in 2008…

25. What did you want and get? to move to Chicago, a DSLR

26. What did you want and not get? to sell my house (it's a great bargain! perfect for an investment property!)

27. What was your favorite film of this year? batman

28. Did you make some new friends this year? yeah, a lot

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? being closer to ethan

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? work appropriate monday-friday, wicker park friday-sunday

31. What kept you sane? planning vacations, going to church

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? gavin rossdale, was slightly obsessed with him in junior high through college, then he left public eye, and then he came BACK!

33. What political issue stirred you the most? the whole freaking election and being in chicago for it

34. Who did you miss? ethan

35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. where you are located will not make you happy; you have to be content with your life where ever you are.

warm enough to snow

that is the oddest phrase a southerner could hear. apparently it has to be warm enough to snow. what is warm then? well the temperature has to be in the 20's. colder than that and the preciptation just stays in the clouds.

well i guess it got warm enough. on tuesday, chicago got 5" of snow. in the last 24 hours, approximately 12" has fallen. along with freezing rain and ice. it didn't affect me too much since i take the L to work, but apparently some commuters had 3-4 hours of travel time!

it does look beautiful: my first white christmas. the lake has a layer of ice and snow and it looks so different from the summertime when it was filled with boats. instead of leaves, the trees have christmas lights and a thin sliver of snow delicately balancing on the branches. people still flood the streets, shopping and headed to work or the theatre or a restaurant, but they are dressed in fur-hooded down comforters, scarves wrapped up to their eyes, and boots up to their knees. and i'm one of them.

the trick is to just be prepared. i actually get warm walking around in all my gear. i may be asking for it, but dare i say, it's not that bad.

i hope the novelty doesn't wear off in january...

1 degree

i promise not to post every day's weather. i mean, there is more to talk about than how cold chicago gets. and everyone told me before i moved up here what i should expect. but i just wanted to share today's temperature.


* click picture to view larger

white christmas

today it's in the 20's (°F), but with the wind chill it feels like 2°F. yep, i didn't forget a digit. it feels like two degrees outside. and it snows.

london

a friend, jj, and i went to london this november to visit our friend erin. she left atlanta as well, in search of something new. though she had to work some of the time, we still managed to navigate the city and see a few things.

things i always had on hand:

• tube map
• map of the city
• an idea of 3-5 things i wanted to accomplish that day
• camera

the trip actually started with an escape to cambridge, england. it is about an hour's train ride north of the city; we departed from king's cross station.

we toured the college and a few local pubs:

kings college

kings college

back in london, jj followed me around while i made sure we saw the typical and not to typical sites:

mummified bits

ben

we celebrated thanksgiving with a variety of marks & spencer food stuffs and a theatre showing of avenue q.

london is very gray as you would imagine:

the fair

new old

i left on a saturday so i could have a day to recover before heading back to work. i was so upset when i landed and called my sister to find out that georgia tech had beaten georgia for the first time in 9 years. the first game in 9 years i missed!

for more photos: flickr: london set