Staten Island Half Marathon

So I thought a good warm-up to the ING Marathon would be to run the Staten Island Half Marathon. I thought I was in pretty good shape, but the truth is, I don't feel quite prepared for the Marathon which is less than a month away. Despite the fact that I am getting over a head-cold, I feel like this race should have been easier. The hills were the worst part. Is it possible to do more hill work between now and November 6th and it be effective??? Ugh. I fear my confidence is shot. Any suggestions? Any?

Nevertheless, it was great to spend the day with a good friend, Rebecca Tessin. She was a rockstar on the course! Thank goodness she was there to tug me along. We made the best of the adventure to Staten Island and the beautiful weather we were blessed with.

(Rebecca on the ferry to Staten Island)

(View of Manhattan from the ferry)

(We made it to the island!)

(We are in our corral ready to start the race)

(Shot of Manhattan after the race)

(Becca after the race...stretch it out!)

(Me after the race...THANK GOD IT'S OVER!)

CU in the Creek

After 4 years of college and several years away from The Creek (a.k.a Buies Creek, NC), it was time to venture down the road to our alma mater, Campbell University. An alumni flag-football tournament was just the ticket to get several of our friends back on the campus.

My Hero and I finally made it to a hotel near campus around 3:00AM. Perfect. 4 hours of beauty rest later, we were up and 'attem and on the field. Well, my better half was on the field, while I was on the side lines donning my best cheerleading smile. My wonderful aunt and uncle showed up to cheer on the boys too! It was quite nostalgic to be cheering on the Killer Beez again and so great to see the boys together. They still had some good moves and took it to the house on a team of current students, but lost that game in the end. They beat the other alumni team though which is what really mattered...thank goodness. 

The night ended on a high note with a special dinner in our old cafeteria on campus...HA! I'm not kidding, but it seriously couldn't have been anymore perfect. My Hero was honored by the retirement of the jersey of T-W-O teams he played on at Campbell - PEN15 and Killer Beez. The speeches were all very memorable and I don't remember the last time we all laughed so genuinely hard. 

The boys hit the field the next day for a few more games and we ended a fabulous weekend by hijacking a BoJangles dining room. Evidentiary support of the above mentioned statements follows...

(The Killer Beez)

(The Huddle)

(My Hero & Ryan Little)

(Killer Beez jersey retirement)

(PEN15 jersey retirement)

(Yep, we climbed the camel on campus for a quick snap before campus police halted our shenanigans)

(Sweet Humphrey the Camel)

(My Hero takes a couple shots in our AWESOME new gym)

(The boys pose in front of their old house...the "KEEP OUT" sign is quite fitting - 

Murphy, English, Woodell, My Hero)

(The girls of the Killer Beez - Casey Soon-to-be-English, Me, Dru Murphy, Marisa Woodell)

MILES & MILES & MILES

Miles...18 to be exact...in the heat and humidity and high dew point. 18 MILES! That's the most I've ever run and I must say I am quite proud of my body for holding up to that distance. I will admit that I wanted to vomit towards the last half a mile, but I managed to keep myself together. The funny thing is, I think I hallucinated and reverted back to my high school track days several times. I could hear my dad's voice yelling at me, "Pick 'em up and put em' down, BB!!! RUN!!!" Who knew that those encouraging words would still be with me years later.

All in all, Heidi's been an amazing running partner. I probably would have quit miles back without her. We've had a lot of fun and managed to take a few great pictures along the way during our the past couple of runs. November 6 is just around the corner and so is the full 26.2 miles!

Fashionably Late

So Fashion's Night Out (FNO) is over and done with, but a post MUST be made about the fabulous night. This year, I participated in a scavenger hunt headed by the lovely Lila Delilah of Madison Avenue Spy. Participants were charged with attending FNO events at several stores, taking a picture of a specified item, and tweeting it to Mrs. Delilah. 25 lucky participants (yep, I was one of them) were then invited to rendezvous at a hotel in the upper east side to collect a prize. I won an uber expensive beach cover-up that is simply divine.

It also just so happened that my night began with a BANG when I had the pleasure of meeting the most talented fashion photographer of street fashion, Mr. Bill Cunningham. I wrote about him earlier this year after watching the documentary of his life. Mr. Cunningham's blue coat caught my eye and I immediately knew it was him. He paused for a hot minute to take this picture with me.

We just so happened to be on Fifth Avenue and in front of Tiffany & Co, so we headed inside and, apparently back in time, to a Studio 54 themed soiree. But first we stuffed our faces with love pops.

Enter Studio 54 - disco balls, and plenty of sparkly baubles and gold dust. 

Another successful FNO! Can't wait for next year.

Must Be Monday

Let me begin by apologizing for a post a second day in a row about Rockzilla. In efforts not to sound like a crazy lady who talks about her pet all the time, this will rarely, if ever, happen again.

9.5 years ago, I picked him out of My Hero's grandfather's litter that he bread himself, took no part in disciplining him (that was My Hero's job), spoiled him rotten, I would've gone broke on this dog years ago if it weren't for My Hero, took him to college with me...yep, he's a college graduate, and he moved with us all the way from the rolling fields of North Carolina to the concrete jungles of NYC. I am crazy about this little bugger.

With all of Rockzilla's good qualities, he has never really gotten along well with other dogs and he is picky about the people he chooses to agree with as well.

Here's the rest of the story:

People in NYC are extremely willing to let their dog walk up to any strange dog. Ummm...this is NOT a good idea. This is NEVER a good idea. This happened to us on our walk tonight...

• Man w/ dog - "Hello, what kind of dog is that?" as his dog inches closer to Rockzilla.
• Me - "He's a Jack Russell, but he's not very friendly." as I bend down to handle Rockzilla before he strangles himself on his leash.
• Man w/ dog - "Well, his tail is waggin'!"
• Me - "No, really, Sir. He's not friendly with other dogs." as Rockzilla's hair starts to stand on end.
• Man w/ dog - "Hmmm, I don't think so. His tail is waggin'." His dog is too close to us by now.
• Me - "He is not friendly with other dogs, Sir..."
• Rockzilla - " LET ME OFF THIS LEASH!"
• Man - "Oh, I see."

REALY?!?!?!? I told the man THREE TIMES my dog is not friendly. Shouldn't ONCE have been sufficient?

Farewell, Irene

Oh, Irene! You came and went. We were totally prepared for you...I think. We had the most food in our tiny apartment that we've ever had! Even Rockzilla had an extra supply of food. We were ready to scurry into my closet given the worst case scenario. We had extra towels on-hand to sop up misplaced water that may have come through our windows. The flashlight and camping light were ready and extra batteries were purchased for them. I even had cash in my wallet...my debit card probably breathed a sigh of relief with that sight!

In the end, we didn't have to evacuate our apartment, we didn't lose power, we didn't even have to use the extra towels to sop up any rouge water. PHEW!

Rockzilla did happen to sniff out a teeny-tiny mouse that was somehow too confident in his presence around humans. Despite the fact that this bothered me extremely, I was quite impressed in my little fella's sniffer, hunting skills and gentle manner. He simply pointed to the mouse and whimpered to let me know he found something out of the norm. Thank goodness my neighbor had her phone handy and snapped this cute shot.

Until next time, Irene.

The Insider

I recently had the opportunity to take an insider's tour of Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue. I have been to the store several times and ridden the special employee elevators, but I had yet to have the opportunity to see the inner workings until a few weeks ago.

One of the first rooms we were ushered into was a board room which held the original vault concealed by hidden doors.

We spent a great deal of time in the next area where a majority of our original pieces and customer special orders are hand created. The craftsmen in this area are extremely talented and my eyes certainly danced with delight at their skills and stunning stones they were fortunate to work with. The day was a real treat and I developed a greater appreciate for the brand by learning more about it.

(Craftsmen at work)

(Layout of a necklace before it's placed in the metal)

(Close-up of the stones prior to placement in the metal)

(Tools used to create the stunning Yellow Diamond Key also shown in the picture)

(You can see the skeleton of the platinum key before the stones are set)

(Craftsman working on the casting of a turtle so intricate that it has a separate shell and body)