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.

Pink, PR, and Pinot Noir

This last Sunday morning wasn't my usual "sleep in, lounge around, drink a pot of coffee and relax" kind of day, but rather a "get up at 5:00am, eat a banana, drink a cup of coffee and run the 31st annual Napa Valley Marathon" sort of Sunday.

Hoping to push through to a personal record (PR), I knew it would suit me best to wear something pink. From head to toe I wore a Vivid Pink Nike Visor , my sister surprised me with an Asics Core Long Sleeve running shirt in fuschia, I ran in my favorite Smartwool Adrenaline Light Micro socks in Orchid, then treated myself to a pedicure with La-Paz-Itively Hot pink varnish by OPI, as it is more than likely I will only have all of my toenails for another month due to continuous pounding they endure during a 26.2 mile run. Delightful.

Between the few measly hours I was able to sleep, I woke up to the sound of rain that wasn't letting up. I stumbled out of bed at 5:00am, dressed for the occasion, ate a little snack, threw on a trash bag to keep me as dry as possible before the race, and was out the door.

My good friend drove me to the start as I nervously, single-handedly carried on continuous inane banter. Looking for Sherry while hiding under my Glad Bag, I listened to one lady crack on about how many more marathons she was running this year and how the last one would be "slow, like four hours or less. Just for fun..." While others were performing high kicks and slamming power gels. One man wasn't wearing shoes, and another man was wearing briefs, tube socks and rubber sandals. Ugh, runners. So weird. Anyway, with only minutes to spare I found Sherry and before we knew it we were clipping away at mile one.

Despite the fact that the morning was cold, somewhat windy, and certainly wet, I was able to break my PR by 17 minutes! If Sherry and I hadn't been able to lie to each other during those last 8 miles, saying how great we felt and how fun it was, I may not have had the spirit to continue, but deception at its best kicked me all the way to the finish line.

Best part of the race? Our amazing support team. Our friends and families covered the entire distance, cheering us on from mile to mile in the rain. Even my 7 month old nephew toughed it out in those conditions. You're the best George!!

After slamming a cheese burger and sweet potato fries from Taylor's I took a short break before dipping in to a celebratory glass of Schramsberg Brut Rose. Hours later I was more than making up for the calories burned, thanks to my mother and sister who slaved away at the world's best Mac and Cheese from the Jimtown Store cookbook. And as determined prior to all of this, we had one of my favorite Pinot Noirs, Williams Selyem 2006 Rochioli Riverblock Vineyard. Oh my God, it was heaven.

Rare Pink Dolphin

WHAT!?

My focus has barely shifted since my friend Michelle sent me this link about the Rare Pink Dolphin. It's my favorite color of pink and this dolphin really does exist. (almost as astonishing as the dolphin shorts worn by George Michael in the Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go video)

The mammal was first sited in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary, north of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern USA. It has been described as "entirely pink from tip to tail and has reddish eyes indicating it's albinism. The skin appears smooth, glossy pink without flaws."

According to Captain Rue, the man who has had many sightings of the dolphin, the mammal appears to be very healthy and as the years have passed, the dolphin has certainly grown and matured but remains close to it's mother and the others in the pod. Impressively family oriented. I like it.

That's really all I know, but I intend to keep up with any new information anyone can give me regarding this pink magic.

Literally & Figuratively Under The Weather

My computer and I both came down with nasty viruses last Monday. The biggest problem? I had only a few days to get well and prepare to run 26.2 miles in what was predicted to be a windy and rainy day for the 31st annual Napa Valley Marathon. On Friday I was still unable to surf the web, hoping to discover a drastic change in the forecast, and felt it was just as unlikely I would make a full recovery.

I did everything I possibly could to reverse the situation. Drank gallons of water, slept every spare moment I had, popped vitamin C and zinc, and prayed to God I would be able to celebrate all of my dedication and hours of training by running the race.

Along came Sunday and feeling much better than I expected, Sherry and I rocked it! We ran through wind, rain, and a bit of pain, and mucho thanks to our awesome friends and family we were cheered on from start to finish.

Now I must get my computer back to health so I can tell you more about the marathon weekend! To be continued...