Tickled Pink

Now this title has nothing to do with the color, nor the focus of this blog, but expresses the sheer joy I experienced after meeting with friends who encouraged me to keep blogging regardless of less jogging. So after a very long pause, I'm back.

My morning was off to the perfect start having met friends Rachelle and Joel for coffee at the Oxbow Public Market in Napa. Ritual Coffee Roasters delivers! You won't be disappointed. My cappuccino was not only delicious, but also beautiful in presentation.

So I have recently moved. And more on that later, but much to my surprise and absolute delight my friends so kindly gifted me with two fantastic pieces from Mountain Hard Wear to celebrate my recent adventure as well as turning another year older. Awesome! The new threads that is, not the getting older bit. But well worth putting on a Christmas list this year are the Women's Sarafin Cardigan and the incredible/reversible Women's Flip Jacket. Perfection. And the colors are great too.

It was during my first half marathon and at mile nine when I felt like I was about to collapse and start crying. Just then I caught the eye of an enthusiastic bystander who yelled "keep going, honey. It's not how you feel, it's how you look!" Often so true and it was motivation to press on, but I have to say having tried on my cardigan and jacket for the tenth time now, it is possible to achieve both.

Thanks guys!

Kneed to run!

Enough already. I miss my running group, and I never thought I would say it, but I miss the agony of the 5:40 am buzz of the alarm clock only to be followed by the best part of my day. A run with good friends.

Unfortunately it took a little knee injury to clip my marathon wings, so I can safely say I won't be doing that again, but I was lucky enough to be randomly selected to run the San Francisco Nike Women's Half Marathon in October. I have set a new goal and it starts out slow. One mile at a time. Without pain. I plan to attempt my first mile on Monday. Wish me luck.

Flip-Flop with a Flowered Flare

I popped in to J. Crew to perform a quick scan for summer goodies. I swear everything in that store is cute right now. I picked up a pair of the Jelly flower Flip-Flops ($29.50) for a nice addition to a gift for mother's day. They are actually quite comfortable and are available in a variety of colors. (Some of which are not shown online) Suited for summer, spa day, vacation or poolside, these flops are sure to compliment your seasonal wardrobe and perfect pedicure.

MILLY Grazie

A friend and I recently enjoyed a late Saturday afternoon lunch at Rose's Cafe in San Francisco. They offer a killer breakfast menu but given the hour we opted for lunch paired with perfectly chilled sauvignon blanc.

Several mussels down and two glass of the Honig SB later, I found myself walking through the delightful doors of a boutique called Flaunt. The clothes are carefully selected from some of my favorite designers such as James Perse, Theory, Splendid, Milly and many more. My eyes were instantly drawn to this overpriced but now overused sundress by Milly. The jersey material makes it casual enough to wear with flip-flops but the color and style are fancy enough to tart this dress up with heels and take it out on the town. I love it!

It's dangerous to shop under the influence, but I feel it served me well in this case.

Wrap it up, I'll take it.

Since injuring my knee during this last marathon, I have been instructed to refrain from running for at least six weeks. I'm a little restless so I have taken on a new sport. Marathon shopping. It's a little dangerous but so far I feel great.

From the day it opened, there has always been a special place in my heart for a store in St Helena, Pearl. I know better, so I only allow myself to enter its doors when I am financially and mentally comfortable spending time and money here. It never fails.

Obviously I'm drawn to the color pink, and all of its relatives, so when I ventured in to this gem of a shop I instantly gravitated toward this amazing wrap by Matta. It's beautiful, feminine, coral in color, with dainty little tassels along the borders. Easily paired with a little black dress, and sure to tart up a wife beater (sorry) and a pair of jeans, this amazing piece screams VERSATILE as well as NECESSITY! It's lovely.

I have an appointment for a re-evaluation of my knee on May 14. At first I was praying the prognosis to be "all systems go", but now I have found peace with the possibility of needing to give the knee a little more rest and perhaps strengthen the shopping abilities.

Peep A Boo

I know very few adults who aren't spooked by these freakish little treats.

My father gets a kick out of such things, and rarely passes up an opportunity to celebrate a seasonal candy, so he hand delivered a batch of hot pink Easter PEEPS to my doorstep the other day. A marshmallow coated in sugar? Gilding the lily, in my opinion, but the colors are so alarmingly artificial and intriguing.

I learned that PEEPS are dusted in shades of yellow, pink, lavender, white, green, orange, blue, and a new chocolate brown. Each one contains 32 calories and is fat free. They come in Valentine, Halloween, Holiday, and Easter attire. And the fact that I can't seem to forget is that it would take over 70 million PEEPS chicks lined up beak-to-tail to reach from Los Angeles to New York City.

And The I-T Band Played On...

And I must say, it was hard to face the music.

I started to feel the fire in my knees during the last five miles of the marathon, only to be accompanied by the sensation of being knifed in my left calf muscle. Thinking this may just be good old fashioned fatigue having just run 21 miles, I pressed on through the pain and raced to the finish line.

My legs were sore and my knees were stiff, but three days after the marathon I felt like a champ. I thought I would ease in to my post-race routine by skipping the running and warming up with a core class my friends just started taking. 60 minutes of pure hell, perspiration, and abdominal punishment did not replace, but rather surpassed any discomfort previously noted, but I loved it and felt stronger than ever.

Now that one week had passed, I was excited to set out for a run with Gale this morning. We barely covered one mile before I felt intense pain along the outsides of both knees and under the knee caps. From Gale sharing her personal experience and consulting several articles, I am sure I have the ever so common I-T band running injury. Not to be ignored.

The recovery is most promising. The recommendations are rest, stretching, icing, massage, vitamin C, and as a last resort, anti-inflammatory medications. When running resumes it is important to run on even surfaces and to start slowly.

Now what? I'm scared to go back to that core class.