Beerfest, junk food, pan-Asian cuisine, oh my!

The usual crew and I were up early on Saturday as we headed towards Grand Rapids for the annual Winter Beer Festival, which is where all the Michigan micro breweries (including Bells this year!) come together to showcase their best and unique products.  I, of course, go for the food :) 

Ice sculpture?  Yes please!

After my usual breakfast (Timmy Horton's coffee + bagel w/ strawberry cream cheese) and quick lunch @ Micky-D's (double cheeseburger w/ fries), you'd think I was stuffed.  But after a few tastes of beers (including my favorite coffee stout from the WAB??), I was yearning for the big, juicy, mouth-drooling turkey leg I saw people knawing on.  My nose took control of my body as we headed straight to the food station.  But of course the last turkey leg was sold to the guy three spots ahead of me.  Hmph.  I settled for a brat.  After an *interesting* ride back on the shuttle to the hotel, we ordered some pizza, where I continued to stuff my face silly with too many slices of pizza.

So you'd think the thought of all that food intake would motivate me to go for a run today when we got home.  But on the contrary - my motivation today came from a simple email update from C-Murder.  C-Murder just began working out since...her wedding 3 years ago?  And already she ran 8 miles at the same pace as myself!  This girl just continues to amaze me.  So, after a quick nap w/ the doggies, I got my lazy bum out the door w/ Gymmy in hand...

We attempted the "tempo run" as indicated by Hal (of Hal Higdon, that is).  I've actually never done a tempo run (hence the lack of improvement in race times), so I need to double check if I did it correctly.  But in essence, my version of a tempo run today consisted of a 1.7mi build-up, 1.6mi 10K pace (well, didn't get quite there, but a good attempt nonetheless), followed by 1.7mi build-down.  The first 0.8mi of the 10K pace portion was pretty tough as I kept looking down at my Garmin, thinking it wasn't working properly.  "9:10" it originally read.  What??  I feel like I'm in full gear and I'm going over 9min pace??  I cranked it up a notch, yet I could barely get under 9min.  I looked down at Gymmy as if to tell him, "Ok Gymmy, be ready to peel me off the floor if I don't make it," as I began to push just a smidge more.  Surprisingly, the second half of it was much easier as Gymmy helped pull me through it, literally speaking.  

                          

my ultra cool, uber techy Garmin 405 watch

After a quick shower, the hubs and I decided to do our monthly date night tonight at Pacific Rim.  Gooby introduced this pan-Asian cuisine restaurant in Ann Arbor to me maybe 6 years ago (?), and it has been one of my top restaurants ever since.  I've tried almost everything on their menu, and I still haven't found a dish I'm not a fan of.  Since it had been awhile since I had been back, I decided to stick w/ my fav combo - the crabcakes + sablefish + warm chocolate cake:

No disappointment here.  The cilantro-lime sauce must be the "non-secret ingredient" that sets Pacific Rim's version of the crabcakes apart from others. The vermicelli noodles and sauteed Asian vegetables balances out the fattier sable fish that just melts in your mouth *yum!*  And of course you can't finish the night w/o trying the house special bittersweet warm choco cake w/ coconut Kahlua ice cream & sake infused cherries :)

What a perfect way to mark the end of a very food-stuffed weekend!

Headache be gone...

I am a complete and utter baby when it comes to headaches, and today was no exception.  The last few hours at work I was overdramatically putting my hand to my forehead, walking around like a zombie.  Just as I was almost satified with my excuse to skip yet another workout for the week, I got an email from J-Woww w/ her weekly workout progress.  I was floored when I realized my 6-month preggers friend was out-doing me!  Eeek!  I shoved the thought of the excuse out of my mind and headed to the company gym, newly motivated...

Although Friday (speed) workouts are quick, they are by far the most painful.  My goal for today?  One mile intervals at RP.  A total of a mere 3 miles.  But even that was beyond difficult for me today.  I tried anything I could think of to get rid of the now pounding headache - held my water bottle up to it, even resorted to conducting some accupuncture-like work on it, none which were successful.  But alas, the 3 miles were complete, and I headed home.

As soon as I got home, "baby Yuko" took over my 29-year old body and wimpered a pathetic "I'm *gasp* dying w/ this headache!" to the roomie as I headed upstairs to my bed.  Of course she immediately came in w/ some Aleve for me and the next thing I knew it was 4 hours later.  And so here I am, blogging on a late Friday night :)

Oily, greasy, yumminess, oh my!

I have made a reputation for myself at work.  Not for a good work ethic, not for a charming personality (duh), but as the girl who gets the gigantic ooey gooey chocolate chip cookie every day for lunch for the past year or so.  So you can understand how shocked the cafeteria lady was as she saw me turn over a new leaf this year when I began replacing the cookie with a cup of soup and fries with a big salad.  And even more shocked when it continued for more than a day (don't worry, daily Cheese-its have NOT been eliminated)!

But for some reason, today was different.  The thought of eating another plain salad brought forth my gag reflex.  So, I ordered myself a nice, oily, mayo-licious sandwich with a side of large, greasy fries.  Yumm-o.  If that wasn't enough, I finished up my second box of Thin Mints today.  A sad, sad day. 

With all this intake in mind and my recent lil workout hiatus, I decided I needed to hit the 'mill immediately.  I attempted the long run today on an incline - a mere 1.0, yes, but still noteworthly for me.  I even bumped it up a notch from my typical 6.0.  I honestly could not remember a time when the last two miles hurt as much as it did today.  But with my orange Gatorade in hand, I eventually grunted (sorry to my neighboring runners!) my way through it.   

And now, thanks to my coworker, all I can think about is devouring this:

"The Bacon Cheese Turtleburger."  That's right, ground beef patties topped with sharp cheddar cheese and wrapped in woven bacon, with hotdogs for its head, tail, and limbs.  *Slurp!* 

Iron Chef Michigan

What would you think of me if I told you that I made a group of teenagers cook for me for free and then criticized their dishes, while I have no culinary credibility whatsoever?

Well, its true, I did. But its not as bad as it sounds.

Tonight, the roomie and I were asked to be the judges for K-Jo's teen church activity - Iron Chef Michigan! Obviously I eagerly skipped my workout for the third consecutive day and jumped at the opportunity for a free meal of my favorite meal of the day! The theme was breakfast foods, and the secret ingredient? Its bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s!  And here are the results of the four groups:

The taste matched the dishes' presentations - we were pleasantly surprised we were amongst some future Top Chefs!  We had a variety of dishes to try - from breakfast sandwiches to European crepes to old country favs (toast w/ egg inside).  My favorite "plating" performance was that of the upper left-hand dish - the choco chips on the banana slices represented none other than braces!  I have to admit tho, K-Jo's bro's team won my heart w/ his specialty pancakes made *just right* (I will be stealing the recipe from him soon!)!

Stranded foodless at work...

Since the Winter Storm #2 of the season didn't cancel work for us, but the cafeteria company did, we were stuck stranded at work, foodless (its like my worst nightmare!). A coworker and I organized an "order-in" from the local favorite Jimmy Johns, which reminded me of the numerous times I had done the same thing back in college, but the delivery was to the library.

And of course, I'm salivating now as I take my first bite out of my #16...The Club Lulu. I personally consider it a "healthy" sub for its turkey breast, which in my mind COMPLETELY outweighs the pound of bacon that just happens to be laying atop the "healthy salad" of lettuce and tomatoes ...

And for those of you who were wondering, yes, Jimmy Johns is still freaky fast in weather like we're having today...props to them :)

Old Friendships + Kona Grill = success!

There's something to be said about old friendships.  Yes, new ones can be fun & exciting, but old friendships carry that nostalgic feeling and provides oodles of laughter and fond memories...

After a morning session of yoga yesterday, my sore body and I headed to Kona Grill in Troy for dinner to meet up w/ two high school girlfriends, K-slap and Supa-S.  I've been to the restaurant a handful of times before, but never ordered sushi because I had my nose up in the air and didn't think Kona was "Japanese" enough.  I was willing to give them a shot this time as I ordered the Rainbow roll (California roll topped w/ tuna, salmon, shrimp, yellowtail & avocado) and a Caterpillar roll (Fresh water eel & cucumber, topped w/ avocado and eel sauce): 

Not bad.  I've seen better presentation, but the fish itself seemed fresh (but I'm no sushi guru)!  The service was quick and friendly too - No wonder the restaurant was packed!

K-slap has a beaming personality, and I would think after this many years of friendship, some would rub of on me...but alas, negative.  Supa-S was voted "Most Athletic" in our high school and I always admired her natural talent.  K-slap and I meet up occasionally (not frequently enough!), but it had been nearly 10 years since we had both met up with Supa-S (does that date me??  Perhaps.).  Lets be honest, there was some nervousness as K-slap and I awaited Supa-S's arrival - what if she changed completely?  What if we have nothing to talk about?  What if we don't even recognize her?  But as soon as Supa-S arrived, all the "what-if's" immediately disappeared and before we knew it, nearly three and a half hours had passed.  Reluctantly, we all got up as we sensed we had surpassed our welcome at the restaurant.  We promised to meet up again soon, and not let another 10 years slip by again...

Take a bite out of that incline, booyah!

I'm the first to admit I'm not a tech savvy girl.  I didn't have my own computer until after college.  I had a Zack Morris style cell phone in high school.  And I still don't know how to DVR anything w/o assistance.  So you can imagine the overwhelming feeling I get when I walk into the famous bitten fruit store...

I've made several attempts at shopping at an Apple store to date, but still can't seem to shake off that uneasy feeling.  Maybe its the pristine whiteness of the store, or maybe its the unapproachable "bar" where the Geniuses reside.  Yesterday, I got over my fear temporarily and approached the store to have them operate on my terminally ill iPhone.
"Now we can start operating (working) on this immediately.  But there may be side effects.  Will you be able to handle that?" - Genius
"I know the potential risks.  But I want it to get better (get it to work)." - me
~ minutes later ~
"Well, the operation was a success.  Unfortunately, it will have permanent memory loss (lost data)." - Genius
"That's ok, I will nurture it with love and help it regain its forgotten memory (upload data).  Thank you!!"  - me

So, my iPhone is back and on its way to a full recovery, and I'm one baby step closer to being at ease about shopping at the high tech store.

On a completely separate note,
I...DID...IT.  Today, I ran...on a *gasp* incline!  That's right, me!!  Now hold your applause...it was only 3 miles...and I only did one mile at a time...and I walked for 2 minutes after each mile... But still, an accomplishment for me nonetheless.  AND I even made in home in time to say goodbye to the hubs before he headed off to the slopes for the weekend :)