26 Going on 6

An alternate title for this post could be “Why I Want To Live Like Liam.”

And Love Like Liam -- one of the stickers in my planner.

For those of your who haven’t heard me talk about Cookies For Kids’ Cancer, Liam [Witt] is the son of charity found Gretchen Holt Witt.

Gretchen and Prince Liam the Brave

I only personally met Liam a few times (at some birthday parties). However, from what I’ve heard about Liam, he was quite the exceptional 6 year old. He squeezed more out of every day than most, always looking for the next great adventure.

Kindergartener and firefighter..

A post from a friend on Liam’s, named Kiki, does better justice to Liam’s life and spirit than I ever would. So, I’m re-blogging it here for you all to read, with the author’s permission of course. For you skimmers out there, make sure to check out the bullet points.

One year ago today, the world lost a little boy who was brave and kind beyond his six years.  When I met Liam a few years ago I could tell that he was the kind of person who could make your glass feel half-full, even when it seemed to be three-quarters-empty.  I could tell this because three-quarters is exactly how empty my glass seemed the day I met Liam.  We were both in the overnight pediatric wing of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.  You could say we were both in pretty shitty situations.  But still, Liam had this light about him.  And I don’t mean that in a woo-woo way, but just simply that it was obvious that this kid made the place—which you could say was pretty drab—brighter. People became noticeably happier when they were around Liam.  I always thought Liam made a much better hospital visitor—IV tubes and all trailing behind him—than any of the clowns, musicians, and comedians who passed through the hallways of Memorial Sloan-Kettering.  But I wish he had never had to walk down one of those hallways.

It has been a year since Liam passed and I still have many questions and doubts and a lot of heartache.  In the past year, sad things have happened to other people who I care about—the kind of sad things that can make you wonder how the sun could possibly still rise over certain homes.  I do not know what I believe about religion or faith or fairness anymore.  I definitely do not know why bad things happen to good people.  What I do know is that sometimes good things come out of bad things and that good people do good things even in bad (shitty) situations.  I do not know why some people die young while others live to be old.  But I do know that as long as I am here, I want to live like Liam did, or as his mom Gretchen says, “love like Liam.”  And here is how you can, too:

 

*Love and protect your siblings and best friends.

*Make sure the people who take care of you (and care about you) know how you feel about them.

*Do not worry about all the reasons why you cannot do something.  Think of something you can do and then do that.  Because you can.

*Make someone else feel better who is having a shitty day, on a day when you, too are having a shitty day.

*Do things that are important and special now, today. Be less concerned with later.

*Go about your day thinking that you could make a new friend at any time in any place. Then, make one.

*Support great causes, great people, eat cookies—and do all three at once, which is what Liam did almost everyday.  (Do not worry, this is the easiest one on the list.  Just go to:http://www.cookiesforkidscancer.org/)

*And of course, if you love something as much as Liam loved scootering, do not let the rules or anything else get in your way.  Just be open to scooter-walking when you absolutely have to.

 

[Liam liked scootering around MSKCC until the edict came down that no scooters were allowed in the hospital - don't think that stopped him though!]

I hope I, at least, do some of those things.

I don’t know why kids die either. In the proper order of things, parents shouldn’t have to bury their children. But, I guess life doesn’t always go in the order of things.

If someone ever describes me as nicely as Liam has been by others, then I will consider myself a very lucky person. And, if I can squeeze as much love and happiness into my years as Liam did in his 6 all to short years, then I’ll consider myself very blessed.

Me with T, Liam's best friend, and her sister M (two of my babysitting loves).

I’m 26 years old and hoping to emulate a 6 year old. 26 going on 6, I guess.

Sounds pretty good to me.

CHIME IN: ANY ONE INSPIRE YOU? ANY LIFE MOTTOS YOU TRY TO LIVE BY? FAVORITE ONE FROM THE LIST ABOVE?

Until next time…

Let’s Pretend It’s Wednesday

Yeah, a day late on this one. I’m sure you all were dying without knowing what’s rocking my whiny filled week right now. It was rainy and I had a busy day of running to PT (@HSS) + chiropractor (Dr. Levine) + going away party. Anyways, let’s get started…

1. “STRAIGHT NO CHASER” CHRISTMAS SONGS: 

Sometimes I listen to their version of “Jingle Bell Rock” on repeat whilst possibly also busting out the Jingle Bell Rock choreography from Mean Girls.

Don't pretend like you don't also know the choreography...

A lot of times I sing along, too. You have to understand that as an undergraduate, this sort of behavior was not only tolerated, but encouraged. One of my roommates in college was a musical theatre student (in Lady Gaga’s class, actually, in the studio, CAP21, until Gaga left sophomore year).

To get a taste of what how talented Katie is, go watch Katie’s Diva List, which a medley of Broadway Divas (ie Patti Lupone, Liza Minelli, Shari Renee Scott, etc) done with the nuances of that person. Go to 4 min in and listen to her do Idina Menzel (Elpheba from Wicked).

Katie (and all of her classmates that I got to know) are absolutely incredible. I can’t even sing “Happy Birthday” with them because I will ruin it.

2. THE CHICK CHOCOLATE THAT PICKY BARS JENN GAVE ME:

Picky Bars Jenn (aka PBJ — shorter, easier to type) is the Picky Bar Head Elf, if you will. She was in NYC for the marathon and had to endure my pre-marathon craziness.

I hope PBJ doesn't mind that I posted this. Sorry, PBJ, if you're not cool with it.

She gave me this chocolate that I haven’t eaten until now. It’s been fantastic during my pity party period, which waxes and wanes, depending on my mood.

This is a health food.

It’s clearly a health food, too, as its dark chocolate with a bunch of healthy stuff in it (dried edamame, dried cranberries, almonds). It’s giving me an antioxidant boost, for sure.

3. THE OATMEAL AT NEW YORK BAGEL ON 1st AND 33rd:

I cannot believe I am blogging about oatmeal, because I typically frown upon the whole healthy living blog, “I woke up this morning and ate my healthy oatmeal” thing.

But, seriously, this place (which feeds basically all of the NYU med students and residents) is putting crack in their oatmeal. One of the residents and I were discussing it today and we think its because they are making it with sweetened condensed milk. It has not been confirmed, obviously, but it tastes far too good to be made with regular milk or water.

It cannot be healthy for you nor bringing down one’s cholesterol.

4. THAT ONE MORE WEEK PASSED NOT RUNNING MEANS I’M ONE WEEK CLOSER TO RUNNING AGAIN.

To keep myself from going crazy about the time that has passed since I have last run, I try to think of it as above. The more time that passes that I haven’t run, the closer I *should* be to running again.

Running Grete's with Megan (all 13.1!) and Kelly was actually really fun. Let's go back and do that again.

We’ll see.

5. NUMEROUS WAYS TO SUPPORT COOKIES FOR KIDS’ CANCER THIS HOLIDAY SEASON:

You can buy the “Best Bake Sale Cookbook,” which Gretchen wrote. All proceeds go to the charity.

I have one! Not that I bake...ever.

You could buy the “Good Cookies” spatula.

Cute, huh?

You could host a bake sale or cookie exchange. For each cookie sold or exchanged, Glad (the plastic bag company) will donate $0.10 to Cookies For Kids’ Cancer.

Finally, check out Cookies’ facebook page and twitter to see if there are any events in your area!

***UPDATE: Gretchen won the “L’Oreal Woman of Worth” Award tonight. What an honor for someone who inspires me to be a good cookie every day. She then updated her FB status to the below, which made me teary.

For Liam.

YOUR TURN: Anything particularly cool I need to know about this week?

I went to the pool 3x this week, but just couldn’t bring myself to go today. I was having too good of a hair day to mess it up with the swampy humidity. If only I could bring my iPod with me into the pool. Life would be so much better.

Before I go, let me tell you PT exercises requiring a lot of concentration. None of the exercises look hard, but they end of being hard, at least for me!

Until next time….

I’m Not As Hungry Anymore and It’s Not Cool

Before I go on into what’s rocking my week, I want to lament over the fact that my appetite has gone way down since I’m not running. When I eat, I get sad, because it’s just not as fun anymore when you’re not starving.

Anyways, let’s begin.

1. NIKETOWN STILL HAS MARATHON STUFF

Before the marathon, I swore I wouldn’t buy anything as “I don’t need any more running stuff.” A week later, totally regretting that decision. Thankfully, a little bird told me NikeTown still has NYC Marathon stuff, so I don’t have to miss out like I did on the NYU School of Medicine snuggie that I didn’t order.

Perfect for studying in a freezing cold library.

2. GRETCHEN AND COOKIES FOR KIDS’ CANCER IS UP FOR LOREAL WOMEN OF WORTH

Cookies could win a lot of dough. Could you vote? http://www.womenofworth.com/honorees/honoreesdetail.aspx?id=Gretchen_Witt&yr=2011

It takes about 15 seconds.

For this little guy...

3. SELF-AWARENESS THAT I AM ONE OF “THOSE” PATIENTS

I filled out my medical history today for an appointment I have tomorrow for ye ol’ leg/hip/back and realized I am one of “those” patients who writes extremely detailed answers to the intake questions. I mean, I wrote a paragraph next to a question (that doesn’t pertain to my leg, fyi) basically explaining what I thought was going on and definitely used some jargon.

Also, some of the questions on those intake sheets are hard. For example, “Do you diet?” I mean, I don’t eat everything I want all the time. I want Insomnia Cookies tonight, but I won’t go because I care about my arteries and visceral fat. What does one call that? Or, my personal fave, “Are you at your ideal weight?” Wrote a little explanation next to that one to. Yes or no checkbox is not for me.

It also occurred to me that the doctor could suggest imaging and, further, an MRI. I hope not because, although I’ve never had an MRI, that tube looks scary.

MRIs - not for the claustrophobic.

I kind of hope she tells me I can run even if I’m in pain so I can Turkey Trot. I’m sure that’s what she’ll tell me.

4. BIKRAM YOGA

But, I already told you about that…

I do want to let it be known to anyone who sees me attempt anything that requires flexibility that I was once flexible.

I think I'm 9 in this picture....

5. BIC BANDS

You guys know I die for those sparkly BIC bands and how devastated I was when I lost my orange sparkly band on Staten Island. And, guess what…

THREE OF YOU CAN HAVE YOUR VERY OWN BIC BAND!

And, better yet, you get to pick which one you want! So, if you don’t love yourself a sparkle like I do, you don’t have to get a sparkly one.

Rules of the Game:

1. Comment below telling me which BIC band you plan on getting if you win.

2. Tell me what charity you would want BIC bands to donate to if you were them (and why if you can). (Remember, BIC bands gives part of their proceeds to a different charity each month.)

3. Go like BIC Bands on facebook (and then tell me).

4. Go follow BIC Bands ontwitter (and then tell me).

Personally, I was thinking of buying a red or green one soon for the holiday season. Obviously.

You have until next Tuesday to enter. May the odds ever be in your favor!

Also, even though I’m still not running, I still dream and scheme in my Believe I Am Training Diary every night. I love that little thing and its pink spiral. My goals are secret, for now. You can take guesses though. It won’t be hard to guess. Trust me.

Until next time…

Still Sulking

Listen, people. I know I am being ridiculous. Running, while important to me, is a hobby – nothing more. There is no reason I should be upset or in near tears when I think about the NYC Marathon. Anyone want to give me a deadline on the sulking period?

Apparently, I wasn't upset here (yet). You know why? Because I saw Ali, Lauren, and Emily all reppin' the sweat squad.

[Seriously, huge thank you Ali, Emily, and Lauren and all the other cheerleaders I saw - Jaime, Jackie, Kimmie, Jess, Courtney, etc - and my virtutal cheereleaders, too many to name]

Mile 18 or so pick me up. HUGE THANKS!

So, yes, my whole crying on the way to work this morning thinking “all of my hard work went to waste” is quite ridiculous. At the moment, it’s the way I feel and I feel somewhat stupid now making my marathon goal 3:35, then putting that out there, and then failing miserably. I have a hard time thinking “oh, it was that IT band thing,” because I’m sure someone out there has PR’ed in a marathon on a bum IT band.

And then I saw this cute puppy on my way to work, which made me instantly feel better. I feel weird calling it "work," considering I don't get paid. Oh well, it's fun, regardless.

Or maybe I’m just slightly psychotic. Someone had the office told me “I’m sorry you’re injured,” and I was like “oh this IT band isn’t an injury, its just an annoyance.” I’m very rational right now, obviously. Like when I almost threw my running shoes out the window this morning – very mature.

Someone at work did validate me by telling me she has similar marathon experiences in not being 100% content with her time. She made me feel so much better and I’m convinced we’re the same person although separated by 6 years in age(we have similar test scores and everything). She told me to not let it ruin the whole experience for me because, at the end of the day, the NYC marathon is a very cool experience.

Anyways, if you know me and how I follow gymnastics obsessively, you would know that I, course, know the slogan of the gym that produced the last two Olympic All-Around champions, WOGA (World Olympics Gymnastics Academy). In true Russian fashion, the motto of the gym is “Train Hard Or Go Home” and “Hard Work Never Disappears.”

I want to raise my kids in Dallas just so they can be good gymnasts...

I like to think the latter one is especially true. Sure, I worked hard for 3-4 months and it didn’t pay off on the big day.

However, I don’t think it’s particularly healthy to judge anything by just one day. I don’t think a surgeon would judge his or her career based on one case.

Similarly, although I spent 3-4 months training for the NYC Marathon, I had a lot of little successes and breakthroughs along the way. I learned how to get rid of negative thoughts at the Boilermaker, I learned that humidity does actually suck the life out of you in New Haven, I learned that focusing on enjoying yourself can lead to big PRs when you least expect it, and I learned how to, finally, appreciate tempo runs. I learned that the physical often follows the mental (ie Believe I Am), that you don’t have to do crazy long runs really early in a marathon training cycle (thank you, RC), and that the whole “training for a marathon” thing can actually be pretty enjoyable, at least in my book.

I still die for the Boilermaker.

[P.S. I have to give a big virtual shout out, hug, and high five to Steph (the RC). She is awesome. She gets a thumbs up from Meggie. And a pointer finger. Although I don't think she reads this blog. Irregardless, she's cool.]

Look at the RC go...she is so fast.

I haven’t found the actual marathon to be enjoyable, yet. It’s kind of a lot of eggs in one basket for me, for a race. But, I figure, that’s kind of how I felt about running for a long time — I thought it was pretty miserable. I figure as long as I have the desire to do a marathon, I’ll keep trying.

So, yep, I think this post actual ends sulking period. Meggie isn’t a quitter, last time I checked. I have some really things going on at my unpaid work, have more time to scheme ways to raise money for Cookies For Kids’ Cancer, and can start planning my marathon revenge.

Also, PS – everyone I have ever met from Oregon or who has lived there at some point is super tiny. I want to know what on earth is in the water there that is making them all so skinny. I want some of that. Or a mild bout of a tapeworm or something. It can’t be just all that running and stuff they do over there, right?

TELL ME: Your comeback stories, your revenge stories, your war stories, your glory days, your successes, how a sport has once been terrible to you and then you loved it again…I need to be inspired. 

Before I go, I ‘ll give you one of mine which has been helpful to me in my sulking period. My junior year of college, I think I won two matches all of the fall season, culminating in a particularly terrible match that I called my “waterloo.” That fall, I felt like I couldn’t hit the side of a barn if I tried. I thought very seriously about quitting tennis that winter, because I just didn’t enjoy it anymore. That spring, I took all pressure off of myself and focused on very basic things. I got all conference that season in both singles and doubles (first team doubles, second team singles, in case you were actually curious.) So, I guess things can turn around.

One of the only pics I have of me playing tennis...I'm sure there are more somewhere....

Until next time…

P.S. Did you buy picky bars, yet?

It’s Wednesday, People…

Typical…

FYI: I realize my homonym misusage has been awful lately. I’m sorry. I swear that I am educated.

1.  MEETING UP WITH GOOD COOKIES MOM

Follow @GoodCookiesMom and @Cookies4Kids

Remember that bake sale I held back in October? Well, today I met up with Liam’s mom, Gretchen, to talk about everything from pediatric cancer research to the benefit of NYC.

A particularly cute picture of Liam, who was made an honorary fireman by Engine 1, Ladder 24 of the FDNY.

Strolling with Gretchen through Central Park reaffirmed why I was so passionate about raising money for this charity. First, if you notice, the charity is not named “The Liam Witt Foundation.” This is intentional, as Gretchen wanted anyone involved to be able to do so in honor of whomever they want, whether it be Liam, their child, or all pediatric cancer patients.

In addition, the aim of the charity is transparent. Cookies For Kids’ Cancer has partnered with 5 of the top pediatric research institutions in the country (Dana Farber, St. Jude’s, Texas Children’s, CHOP, and MSKCC). Research groups from each of these distinguished institutions then applies and the medical advisory board for Cookies, which is essentially a brain trust of the top mind’s in the pediatric cancer world, decides which ideas will go most quickly from laboratory to clinic and, further, which show the most promise to affect difference in outcomes. Research discoveries from these 5 institutions then, in essence, “trickle down” to all patients being treated at any hospital in the US, seeing as the medical community is so electronically connected and free flow of ideas and communication is, in turn, easier.

I could go on, but let’s just say I scheming ways to make more money for Cookies…

2. PAPERCLIP THINKING HE IS ACTUALLY BUZZ LIGHTYEAR

To Infinity and Beyond!

That’s right. My favorite 3 year old is going to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. The problem is that when he dons the actual costume, he thinks he is actually Buzz, meaning he will try to jump off things thinking he will start flying. His mom had to sit him down and tell him the harsh reality – the costume does not make you fly like Buzz.

3. BATH AND BODY WORKS BLACK HOLE

I swear that every time I go in that store, I don’t come out for another half hour, at the very least, and get sucked into buying God knows what, but usually copious amounts of themed hand sanitizer.

I already had the Halloween ones, but now I have the ENTIRE holiday season from October to December covered, including one of those hand sanitizer holders with Jingle Bells. I mean, how could I NOT buy that – its bananas.

100% necessary purchase. Hello, I can't get sick. Must sanitize.

4. GOING HOME THIS WEEKEND

I haven’t seen my sister since July. I think this is one of the longest times we’ve been separated since she emerged from the womb in 1988.

Mere days after Ally became my BFF.

She's always loved me...PS - that Little Mermaid pillow is bomb.

Of course, I’m excited to hang with the rest of my fam, too.

5. DR. STEVEN D. LEVINE, CHIROPRACTOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

Homeslice is the rock in my emotionally volatile world lately, meaning that when I see ads for the marathon I want to rip them down and when the security guard of my work building asked me, “When’s the big run?”, I almost wanted to cry (PS- No idea how he knew I was running it, but I love him and we chat everyday so I know he was trying to be nice; PPS – No idea if there is supposed to be a comma after the question mark, but go with it.) Facebook updates and tweets about the marathon make me want to deactivate both accounts as they make me sad for some reason. I don’t know why I’m being so hypersensitive about it.

I went back in today for some manual torture and the man with the magically strong hands reassured me that everything is going to be alright come November 6th.

Today’s ART associated anatomy lesson! When the gluteus maximus is reflected away, lo and behold, there are a million other muscles beneath there that the medical/chiropractic/physical therapy/etc student must memorize, not to mention their innervation, origin and insertion, and function! My personal fave are the gemelli muscles – there is an inferior gemellus and superior gemellus, each flanking the obdurator internus. They are called “gemelli” because that means “twin” in Italian, I think – could be Latin. The piriformis is the one that is a pain in the butt to a lot of runners – pun intended.

Ok, I’ll stop boring you.

Anyways, if you wondering where I stand, as I’m sure you all are just DYING to know (kidding), I ran for 30 min today and it was better than Saturday, but not 100%, meaning there wasn’t a sharp pain, but something was there. Sometimes I describe that kind of pain that its dull or sharp as “the absence of nothing,” but I’m not sure that entirely makes sense to anyone but me. I ran all 30 min pretty slow and anytime I sped up the tightness got worse.

MORE ANATOMY - YES!!!

I got more ART after this today and Dr. Levine assures me that everything feels alright and it will all be ok.

Mentally, I’m trying to hold down the fort, but its not always so easy to not get upset and then chastise myself for getting upset over something that really doesn’t matter, even though its something I’ve put a lot of time into and care a lot about. I am living, healthy, and leading a very charmed life overall, thus far. I am focusing on today and that is it. Tonight I am better than I was this morning because homeslice broke up more adhesions for me and my sacrum + lumbar spine is readjusted. And, today I am better than yesterday because I ran.

TELL ME: WHAT’S ROCKING YOUR WORLD THIS WEEK? 

Until next time…

What’s Up Wednesday

I know – its 9 pm…a bit delinquent for a Wednesday post, but, hey, its still Wednesday right now.

1. OCTOBER = DECORATING FOR HALLOWEEN

I sent an email to my mom asking, “Mom, can you send me my Halloween pillowcases and Halloween beanie babies?” I mean, my Halloween pillowcases GLOW IN THE DARK – I need them. I will post a pic if they make it to NYC from TN.

To make up for not having my Halloween pillowcases right now, I decided that I really needed these Candy Corn lights at CVS today.

Necessary Luxury

Oh yes, that would be my halloween blanket, too. And, look at this little gem:

Drawn by Meggie Smith, Halloween 1993

I painted that witch and cat in the 2nd grade (it was pastels, I believe) and my mom had it turned into a rug or something. My mom says I must have had a happy childhood because my witch is smiling. I guess you can also see why I didn’t go into anything that required artistic ability.

2. FALL WEATHER = WEARING BOOTS

I love Frye boots. If you want to drop $400 for someone else, you can buy me these (or the Tom Ford Sunglasses, your pick).

Its started to feel fall-ish and I busted out my boots for the first time this season. It felt like I was meeting back up with old friends.

3. GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Podium training is already up on gymnastike and I couldn’t be more excited.

Barring disaster, I think Jordyn Wieber should win the all-around title considering the reigning World Champ (Aliya Mustafina) is out with an ACL tear and the USA’s other good all-arounder, Rebecca Bross, is out with a dislocated patella.

My pick for the All-Around crown.

And you thought running caused injuries.

I’m not sure how Team USA is going to fare in the team competition as they lost one of their best bar workers this week to an abdominal strain. Bars is probably the weakest Team USA event right now. But, I mean how can you compete with this:

An amazing routine, but, let’s get real here, she was definitely not 16 (although I don’t agree with the age rule anyways).

4. THE EASIEST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE RECIPE EVER:

It is not healthified, but I’ve gotten many a compliment on it. Here goes:

1 box yellow cake mix (fyi: yellow cake >>> white cake, in my book) + 1 box instant chocolate pudding (3.9 oz) + 1/2 c sugar + 3/4 c vegetable oil + 3/4 c water + 4 eggs + 8 0z sour cream

Yellow cake >>> White cake. In case you're ever baking me a cake.

Mix all of that in a bowl until moist.

Then add 6 oz chocolate chips.

If making cupcakes, bake at 350F for 15-20 min.

BOOM. Cupcakes.

Just add some frosting if you want and dunzo.

5. THE BENEVOLENCE OF OTHERS

Seriously, how am I so lucky? First, I have all you nice people help me bake and sell tons of cookies for Cookies’ For Kids Cancer.

I know you've seen these pic, but I really love this one.

Really ridiculously fast people offer to run with me.

Here'e Megan and I bringing sexy back to Central Park.

Megan ran a whole freaking half marathon with me, helping me PR and have a big confidence up up up day. Those 13 miles flew by, it wasn’t even that painful. Most of the time, I thought I was having too much fun for a race.

Then, Susan, who just ran a MARATHON on Sunday, did my workout with me today (3 x 2 miles at my MP, if you were curious — my MP is a walk in the park for Susan). It was by far the easiest 3 x 2 miles I’ve ever done — the first two repeats practically flew by.

Best part of the entire thing? They were the watchbearers so I didn’t have to deal with my watch or the Garms, but I still had the data.

Susan is running NYC so she’s out in terms of my pacer recruiting. I’ve submitted my application to Megan. I have secrets hopes that I can conn one of the Picky People, Jesse, into running with me. He’ll probably be busy watching his wife though, and I don’t blame him. Maybe I can bribe him with baked goods.

Jesse like wins triathlons in aviators. He also has a degree in engineering (maybe even a masters), an MBA, and runs a business. Man, I feel lazy and unaccomplished now.

At the very least, with a masters in engineering, I have high hopes I can pay him to set up a wireless router and my TIVO for me. I have no patience for technology to figure it out. He’ll probably be too busy winning something or inventing another start-up or something.

Anyways, that’s what’s rocking my week.

TELL ME: What’s rocking your week? And, do you decorate for Halloween?

Until next time…

Good Cookies

With part 1 of my day diemed, I had my bake sale left to carpe. I ran back to my friend Jackie’s (she lives close to the finish), showered, and we were back out the door in less than an hour. Don’t worry, I picked up some serious caffeine on the way to Washington Square Park.

Sometimes I drink two of these a day. And by sometimes I mean most of the time.

It was sunny when we were setting up, so I made the executive decision to set up outside and hope for no rain. Of course, our set up was a little delayed by a protest going from Union Square to Astor Place. This was not just any protest like the ones for Qui Gong (my spelling may be way off) or Syria or Israel or the usual protests — this one was a Slut Walk.

I'm not kidding - it was called a slut walk. I was pretty confused, but too frazzled to figure it out.

One good thing about this was that a lane in the street was blocked off for their walk from Union Square to Astor Place. Naturally, my friend Jon and I used this to push two tables on a cart down the streets of NYC (from 3rd and 14th to Washington Square Park) with Jon basically screaming, “Charity! Charity Work!” to anyone who stared at us.

I think the set up turned out cute..what do you think?

Thanks to Rachel for lending me this awesome table cloth.

 

Some of the goods...

 

Me with T, the future scientist/doctor/horse back rider, and M, the future "girl in fashion" - her words complete with pose

 

Wearing orange for Liam.

It did start raining around 2:45 pm, at which point we moved under the awning of a building directly across the street. It was easier than going to the rain location and re-setting everything up there. I have some very good cookie friends (Jackie, Jon, Caroline, Katie, Christy, Hayley) who stuck it out in the rain with me.

Long story short, the bake sale itself raised $932.74 for Cookies For Kids’ Cancer. Along with a few checks I am getting, I will be able to give Gretchen about $1000! I am so happy I was able to do this for Gretchen, Larry, Liam, Ella and the entire Cookies For Kids’ Cancer crew.

I was pretty beat. Thankfully, I was babysitting that night for T and M’s parents (or I guess actually babysitting for T and M, but they were asleep) who left me with a glass of wine. I am one lucky babysitter (fyi – I’ve been sitting for them since the mom was pregnant with M!).

I maintained a pretty good steam of energy through Sunday (tutored, babysat with T and M which isn’t really work, I mean we played ballet class – what’s not to love?). Can I say the same for Monday? Nope, I crashed, big time.

But I am deliriously happy with the small contribution I was able to make to Cookies? YES.

Prince Liam the Brave

 

Gretchen, Mom, and Dad - this bake sale was for you, too.

A BIG THANKS, again, to EVERYONE who helped me! Your kindness means so much to me.

Until next time….

Orange Is My New Lucky Color

Elle Woods was so wrong. Whoever said orange was the new pink was right. Not that I don’t love pink, too.

Orange was Prince Liam the Brave’s favorite color (remember – Liam is Gretchen’s son, the found of Cookies For Kids’ Cancer). When I picked up my bib Friday from NYRR for Saturday morning’s little half marathon, guess was color it was? ORANGE. Guess what color a lot of Oiselle’s stuff is? ORANGE.

Liam would've liked this. I thought my orange bib was a sign that Liam wanted me to have a good time.

Thursday night I did have my usual pre-race “I am putting so much pressure on myself and I don’t know why I do this to myself” moment. Friday I ran around like a crazy person. Saturday I felt surprisingly calm and ready to carpe diem. And I had quite a bit to carpe this diem.

Saint Megan said she’d run the race with me. Yes, Megan is, indeed, a saint as she ran the ENTIRE half with me, was the watchbearer (and if you’ve ready any of my posts you know about my relationship with watches and Garmins), and helped me plan the race as we ran it (I term this “intuitive running”) and PR by 2 min! (1:4856 –> 1:46:47 for any numbers people)

Better yet, Megan and I met up with Kelly at the start who was in the midst of a twenty mile run. So, we chatted away the first four miles, and we even ran into Betsy on Harlem Hill (mile 3-ish, I think). And, to top it all off, we saw Ali two times during the race complete with jazz hands and screams of “all my favorite people, you’re going to win!” If you see me during the marathon, please do jazz hands.

I was having such a good time running that, at first, it weirded me out and I was like “why am I having so much fun — races typically aren’t that fun until they’re over.” And, then I remembered this little guy in my awesome training journal:

In the journal, the stems say "I am" and another flower says "ful" -- "I am Joyful." Oh, and look - MORE ORANGE.

Lauren and Ro (the Believe I Am peeps) wrote something next to it about people doing best when they are enjoying themselves (they write it more eloquently than that) so I decided to stick with my “this race is my Saturday morning coffee talk session” race plan.

If you want to know the nitty gritty details, the first mile was 8:55, the second 8:45. Miles 3-5 were 8:15-8:20. Mile 6 was 7:53 — when Megan calculated that, I thought that was probably too fast so we intentionally slowed down a bit to make sure I felt strong at the end. Miles 7-9 were about 8 min. Mile 10 was like 8:05 or something, I’m not really sure…maybe it was 8:10 because of the hills. Anyways, 11 was 8:02 and the last two were both 7:43. I guess I can call this race/long run/gossip sesh “progressive.”

I felt really good throughout, even on all the big hills (and the “fake hill” leading up to the reservoir, which I despise). I felt really strong. I had a great time. I did not feel like I was going to throw up at any point.

I felt like this on Saturday - can you see the word? Sorry, Believe I Am people for stealing all of your images.

My finish time was 1:46:47, which is 8:10/mile. Now, I could let this freak me out, because 8:10ish is marathon pace — its technically 8:12 for a 3:35 marathon, but that sounds so odd being like “my marathon pace is 8:12…8:13 far too slow, 8:11 far too fast.” So, I round to whole numbers. I could freak out that thinking “I have to do that twice in like 5 weeks or something if I want to acheive my ‘A’ goal?”

As Saint Megan reminded me 1) I will have tapered for the marathon, 2) I will have another month of long runs and workouts in me, 3) it won’t be as humid, and 4) I won’t be having a gossip sesh for the first several miles. Megan is so wise. Snaps for Megan (name that movie)!

So, I think this race gets too confidence up arrows, maybe three. You decide.

I then ran to shower and head down to the ol’ bake sale, which I will save for tomorrow so as to save you all from reading a short novel.

Here’s a sneak peak:

Me with T and M -- some of my favorite girls in the under 7 set.

So, yep, orange is my new lucky color and I think I had a little angel named Liam watching over me all day Saturday. Unfortunately, I’m not in the orange corral for NYC (can I write them and request a switch? ha! I’m serious though), but I will be wearing something orange, that’s for sure.

TELL ME: What is your lucky color, number, stuffed animal, thing? Any superstitions? Things you must do for races, tests, etc?

I definitely have lucky foods, shorts (my Oiselle Lori shorts now), rubber bands, socks…some what out of control.

Until next time…

Diabetes. But for a good cause…

I know, two posts in one day, who am I?

***ALSO: RAIN PLAN – If it is raining, we will be in the Kimmel Center, which is on Washinton Square South, directly to the West of Bobst. Its a big glass building.

I thought I’d give you all a little preview of what you can get at my bake sale, for those of you who are planning how to choose wisely amongst my goods. I also want to remind you that on Monday I will start taking donations for diabetes medication fund.

1. LEVAIN BAKERY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES – I have 1 dozen of these that they donated.

I have a feeling these may go fast.

2. MEXICAN JELLY ROLL COOKIES (Thank you to Kate and Jaime!)

3. GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES (Thank you to Susan!)

The dough was also very good. I mean, I can't sell something I haven't tried!

4. AMY’S BREAD CHOCOLATE CHIP MINI COOKIES – They donated 4 dozen.

5. CHOCOLATE CHIP M and M COOKIES – Made by yours truly because M and M cookies are my fave. I stole the recipe from this blog. I ate both the dough and a cookie. Two thumbs up from Meggie. They don’t stay together well, but that’s my fave kind of cookie – those that are almost dough-ish.

My half marathon tomorrow is fueled by this. Fuel of champions.

That little guy on the bottom left there didn't quite make the transfer so I ate him. I mean, I couldn't sell that! I had to eat it, obviously.

6. CHOCOLATE DIPPED RICE KRISPIE TREATS – Made by the lovely Megan

7. BROWNIES WITH CANDY CORN ON TOP – They’re really fudgy. And autumnal with the candy corn. And some without candy corn. (Thank you Brooke and Katie!)

8. REESE’S COOKIE CUPS – Basically a mini reese’s baked into a chocolate chip cookie cup. Can you say love?

9. CUPCAKES GALORE  - Some made by me, some made by my friend Diana, some that are Vegan made by some undergraduates that are helping (Thank you, Lauren, Alisa, and Katherine!)

10. TONS OF COOKIES – Chocolate chip (Thank you, Mo!), chocolate chip pancake (Thank you, Ashley!) oatmeal raisin, oatmeal raisin with cranberries, snickerdoodle (Thank you, Jackie!)

And many more things — Kelly, who can cook up a storm, is bringing something tomorrow — and I have a few other friends (Thank you, Chelsey; Thank you, Jon; Thank you Christy!) who are bringing their goods to the bake sale.

Some people have told me they wanted to donate even though they can’t make it to the bake sale. There are two ways you can do this:

1. You can send a check made out to “Cookies For Kids’ Cancer” to:

Cookies For Kids’ Cancer

31 Hoffmans Crossing Road

Califon, NJ 07830

2. You can donate via this link I set up:

http://cookiesforkidscancer.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=442828&lis=1&kntae442828=AD54B0FBD55648508EB09F80380940DC&supId=330641485

Another very cool way you can support Cookies is by buying Gretchen’s book!

Proceeds of this book go to Cookies For Kids' Cancer

You can buy the book on Amazon here.

If I forgot to thank anyone, I’m sorry. Everyone’s help truly means so much to me.

Hope to see you tomorrow! I may look disheveled seeing as I’ll be post-half marathon and post-all day baking/picking up baked goods.

If you come, WEAR ORANGE! That was Liam’s favorite color.

Until next time…

Flight of the Bumblebee

If you want to know what my brain sounds like right now, just imagine “Flight of the Bumblebee.” Its a pretty accurate description.

I’m also pretty sure come Sunday, I’m going to need to sleep a bit or else I will get sick. I kind of already feel like I may be getting sick.

Stop by! Tell your friends and frenemies - basically, tell anyone you know.

So, the ol’ bake sale is tomorrow. Of course, the forecast is rain which sent me into panic mode and I have wasted tons of nervous energy thinking about rain. Meggie Smith is not one to be stopped so, naturally, I emailed the Vice President of Student Affairs of NYU (Marc Wais – really nice guy actually) telling him my predicament and within a half hour he called me on my cell. Pretty good VP of student affairs of a large university, don’t you think? He gets two thumbs of from me. And a high five.

Marc Wais - THANK YOU KIND MAN who is easing my anxiety right now. You are like Zoloft for me today.

Basically, my theoretical rain plan is to set up under the awnings of Bobst (the library, my 2nd home in college). I figured I could go about this two ways – ask for permission or beg for forgiveness. Seeing as I’m doing this for a charity that I’m representing, I figured I’d go with the former.

See nice awnings - perfect for a bake sale. And, it midterms time = lots of students in library.

Of course, I will be bringing my student ID, my park permit, and Marc Wais’ personal cell phone number in my armament against any NYU security guards who try to stop me. I’m not opposed to also using tears and telling them how much I have paid in tuition the past 7 years to them so I can get my way.

And, if worst comes to worst, I will be standing out there with my umbrella and rainboots. By myself if need be. Don’t worry I will be out there.

Its not really about “getting my way” as I wrote above. I really just want to do good by Gretchen, who works so tirelessly to raise awareness about the lack of funding for pediatric cancer. As you may know from my previous blog, Gretchen lost her beautiful son Liam this past year to neuroblastoma.

My heart goes out to Gretchen. Liam was made an honorary fireman as often hung out with the men of engine1/ladder 24.

If I lost a child, I’d probably have to take a leave of absence from life. Not Gretchen. Gretchen has been spreading the word about Cookies, wrote “Best Bake Sale Cookbook” where all the proceeds go to Cookies, travels around the country doing interviews on behalf of Cookies — all while raising her beautiful daughter, Ella, and working full time for OXO.

So, I really want to do well for not only Gretchen and Liam, but also for my parents and my brother. My parents never took a “leave of absence” from life when my brother was sick or after he died. In fact, I don’t even remember my parents being gone during that time which, they have told me, they were as my brother was treated at a hospital 2 hours away from our home.

So, yes, I really want this to be a success for Gretchen, Liam, my parents, my brother, and Janie B Sharp (my friend’s sister who died from cancer when we were juniors in high school).

Gretchen and Liam

Thus far, I have baked two dozen gluten free peanut butter chocolate cookies and three dozen [non GF] chocolate chip. Big shout out to Susan for helping me last night! You should also go over to her blog and wish her GOOD LUCK in her marathon on Sunday!

Finished product.

Speaking of running, did I mention I’m running a half tomorrow morning before the bake sale? Yep, I am. I can’t even think about it because I have so many doubts about it — am I strong enough to run 13.1 miles fast? If I can’t, how on earth do I think I can run 26.2 miles in my goal time? What happens if it goes poorly? Can I use the bake sale as an excuse? I really want it to go well so I get a lot of confidence from it. But, am I stretching myself too thin right now?

See – FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE BRAIN.

I’m having to throw all those thoughts out the window. I am going to turn them into good ones like “I had a really good workout on Tuesday so tomorrow is going to go equally as well. And I will repeat some mantras and affirmations to myself all day that I had to write down last night…in my training journal, no less.

Or something like that.

Anyways, people, please do an anti-rain dance. Thanks.

Until next time.