one happy (valley) girl

Well, where did I leave off? (I realize I’m two days behind… I’ve been a busy, traveling girl!)

When I woke up Sunday morning, this is what was waiting for me on the table:

Awwwww 🙂 When Adam had asked me what I ate pre-race, I mentioned toast, peanut butter and banana. And he got organic–double awwwww 🙂 🙂

Here we are, before:

I got the tank to match the neon pink trim on my shorts!

And can I just say that it was like 90% humidity and that State College has WAY MORE HILLS than I remembered? Like, a ton. It was as I was rounding the golf course hill that it all came back to me…

(Check out the building behind me in the above picture–that totally was not there when we went to school!)

And here we are, after:

Adam was DRENCHED and I was pretty sweaty, too. Hot and steamy, it was!

And guess who WON her age group? YOURS’ TRULY! A 10k in 46:56. Not too shabby.

I’d love to say I was shocked, but I wasn’t. Perhaps surprised is more accurate. I definitely wasn’t feeling fast that morning and was, as usual, intimidated by the field. I have to admit; all this winning is still really new to me (let’s just say running wasn’t my sport of choice for, like, my entire life), but I’ve placed in my age group enough now that I feel like I can’t leave a race until they’ve posted the results. It’s weird. Awesome, but weird. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it. I mean, I don’t even really look like a runner. At least not the fast ones.

And I have a theory: I’m in what I’m calling a “sweet spot” right now. I’m in the 20-30, or sometimes 25-29, age group, which is just older than the super skinny, super fast high school/college ‘elite’ runners, but I’m younger than the ‘been-running-for-twenty-years-post-kids-competitive’ group. More times than not, I’ve noticed that the ladies finishing just ahead of me are older, but don’t win THEIR age groups.

Apparently, my 15 minutes of fame is limited. Or I’ll just have to get faster. (I think I’ll take the latter.)

And the perfect end to a fantastic weekend, a great run and a win? The Waffle Shop!

It’s a State College mainstay and super famous. It now has three locations–the original being right on College Ave.–and always has a line around the building on weekends. I’ll admit that Andrew and I weren’t regulars here while we were students, but it is the first place I had chocolate chip pancakes, and for that I will be forever thankful.

Adam, Andrew and I met up with Abigail and waited outside as the temps started rising. We made it into the air conditioning just in time!

I ordered the “mini platter” and was able to request chocolate chip pancakes instead of plain. Thank goodness for substitution-friendly establishments!

After our delicious and very traditional PSU breakfast, we all parted ways and I headed toward Philadelphia, while Andrew and Abigail went north back to New York. I’ll be on the road through Thursday–more photos and updates on my travels soon!

family visit

Mom and Josh are here visiting!

(So happy to have them here, but I swear! I can’t catch a break this summer…it’s just one crazy day after another! When am I supposed to have that ‘down time’ I’ve been waiting for?)

We picked them up at the airport at 9:30 and went straight to church, where we heard Jim and Jill Kelly talk about her new book and their struggles and faith–very neat to see them and loved hearing their testimonies.

Then we headed to Elmwood to get some Saigon Cafe Thai for lunch before walking around and popping into different shops. Scored a major find at reimagine, a trendy consignment home-goods place–some small retro Pyrex/Corning saucers that match the teal-rimmed ones I found at Goodwill in Ohio! We also started eyeing this amazing black-and-wood two-tone long table for our new house…

We (well, more like Josh and I) wanted some ice cream and after seeing the wait at Watson’s, Andrew announced that he was taking us to Condrell’s, a local long-established ice cream and chocolate shop. We enjoyed sundaes and sodas before heading home to rescue the puppy (who’d been cooped up for 7 hours–thank you to Mom and Dad Layer for giving him a comfort break once during that time!) and start marinating dinner.

After a walk and a quick female-only trip to Target, we all settled in to watch This Means War (cute, but super predictable and a bit more risque than I anticipated), before turning in after midnight…

Andrew’s already off to work, I’ve been up since 5:30 working on an article and doing my morning thing, and our two visitors are still asleep! Although Josh did open his eyes and speak coherently for a bit while I was up putzing in the kitchen.

We’re off to the gym later this morning, then meeting Andrew for lunch at the Bar Bill for wings, then seeing our new house (!), followed by an afternoon in East Aurora. Sigh…I’m happy.

we’re too old for this (stuff)

Andrew and I went downtown last night for a concert by the harbor, followed by a little grown-up bar-hopping with friends. Actually, in all honesty, Andrew and I hopped just once; we said our goodbyes at 1 a.m. while our compatriots walked to the next watering hole.

Like I said, we’re too old for this stuff.

But, enough with the negative talk; we had a great time out and were both surprised at how late we made it before deciding to head home, mostly to rescue the dog, who’d been left alone since 6 p.m.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals opened the show and the weather could not be beat; not too hot, not too sunny and altogether quite pleasant. Summer here is so livable.

I broke out my new green shorts–love them! Kudos to Andrew for all my colorful birthday clothes this year 🙂

The headliner was the Sam Roberts Band, from Canada.

I’d never heard of either group before, but they’re both from near here (Grace Potter is from Vermont), which was neat. Apparently the Buffalo/Montreal/Toronto area is big for up-and-coming bands–I had no idea! And did you know the Goo Goo Dolls are from Buffalo? They are, potentially, one of my favorite bands of all time. (That’s not saying much since I barely know any of their songs, except their hits, and am an all-around non-music person.) But I love their sound; it’s not distinct like other genres (Country), nor is it “catchy” like so many of the boy bands and things on the radio. The Goo Goo Dolls are timeless.

As the show wrapped up we headed out, first to Founding Fathers, a local “smart-people” bar (that’s what I call it) that features free popcorn and make-your-own nachos, as well as an extensive selection of microbrews. And oh by the way–it’s decorated with presidents and flags and other “americana” memorabilia. And the well-dressed older gentleman behind the counter? He owns the place. And it attracts a bunch of preppy college kids and middle-aged men in suits; I can feel comfortable in a place like that. We have yet to go to their monthly trivia night, but intend to as soon as our schedule allows…

After a drink there we all walked to Laughlin’s, which is apparently an uber-fancy restaurant during the day, and a less-swanky bar at night. Really, it was relatively unimpressive, but we had plenty of room to rest our tired feet and just chat.

It was en route to the next establishment that Andrew and I said our adieus; I had a gym class in a mere seven hours!

By the time the lights went off at home, it was pushing 2:30 a.m. Again, we are TOO OLD for this kinda stuff. And when Hadrian and Andrew needed potty breaks at 7:30 a.m., my eyes took a little more effort to open than usual, but overall I felt quite good despite our late night. (I credit my good drinking habits–fewer than one drink per hour–for me–and LOTS of water before, during and after. Works every time.)

I did, in fact, make it to the punk rope class at the Y, but just barely.