Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Morning run(s)

With Hoov and the Bean yesterday. 1.5 miles. 13 min.

With the Bean today. 3 miles. 25 min.

Austin runs are fun!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

we in the NOLA, baby.


st. james hotel

More trip photos here as they happen...

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Amy Poehler's Harvard Speech



love it. also love all the stern looking reaction shots.

MORIMOTO

On Tuesday evening Hoover and I dined at a special restaurant as my gift to her for her birthday. She took me to Colicchio and Sons on my birthday, it was only right (and delicious) to return the favor. And so we found ourselves at Iron Chef MORIMOTO’s restaurant, perusing the menu and salivating over what we found.

The restaurant itself has a modern décor and a dark, chic ambiance. Though we were seated rather close to the tables next to us, it didn’t impede our experience (except for the fact that I couldn’t hear our waiter describe the menu because of the loud people talking about advertising industry rumors next to us). Overall, I was pleased with the design; I thought it complemented the concept of the restaurant well, and created an atmosphere that was enjoyable to eat in.

After deciding to drink a Fingerlakes Reisling that Hoover scoffed only costs $12 at the winery, but had quite a markup at the restaurant, we went for it anyways and hunkered down, ready to order some food!

Since Hoover is a sushi nut, and especially loves Salmon Avacado rolls, it was only natural that we chose that as one of our appetizers. We also decided to indulge in the Toro Tartare, due to rave reviews of the dish on Yelp.com. Both were delicious. The Salmon Avacado was not too much different than a standard roll in terms of style, yet the ingredients were really fresh and delicious. The Toro Tartare was as good as advertised, it came with a small platter of tuna tartar and an array of different sauces or toppings to try each bite with. My favorite bite probably consisted of some tuna, a little wasabi and some mini rice balls. Of course, since I am anything but a fancy, civilized person, I had a hard time keeping my food on the little scraper-like utensil they give you to eat it, causing Hoover to make fun of me repeatedly. But the constant struggle was definitely worth it once the food got to my mouth, it was very delicious.


Toro Tartare (photo credit)

So, the appetizers were a success, now it was time to order the entrées. I decided to take a slightly different approach here, since I wanted to try the Rock Shrimp Tempura appetizer, I ordered that and the Soft Shell Crab roll as my entrée. Both were delicious, the Rock Shrimp Tempura consisted of bite-size pieces of fried shrimp, covered in two different sauces. One was a spicy sauce, the other a Wasabi aieoli, both were delicious, and the dish also came with a dish of ranch dressing for dipping. The portion was pretty big, so I couldn’t even finish the whole thing, but definitely worth checking out (I would have it as more of an appetizer next time). The Soft Shell Crab roll was very tasty as well, very much like the Salmon Avacado, it was a standard take on the roll, but done wonderfully.


Rock Shrimp Tempura (photo credit)

For Hoover’s entrée, she opted for the Ishi Yaki Bop, a dish that is actually served deconstructed and they cook at the table in front of you. It comes as a bowl of rice with yellowtail tuna, and they cook the tuna on the sides of the extremely hot bowl it is served in. While the tuna is cooking, they prepare the rest of the dish, by adding a seaweed sauce and an egg to the rice. Then they layer the finished tuna on the top of the dish, and it’s ready to eat! This was definitely a very cool dish to get, the presentation was top notch, and I can attest as someone sitting across from the dish, it smelled DELICIOUS! This was confirmed when I tried a bite later on. This was a great dish and Hoover thoroughly enjoyed. Again, this was a good portion size — Hoov didn’t even finish it all in one sitting.


Ishi Yaki Bop, before cooking. (photo credit)

By this time we were STUFFED, so we decided to opt out of desserts. But there was one more thing to enjoy before we left — the bathrooms. The bathrooms at Morimoto are so notoriously nice that I was actually brought there on an NYC food tour, but not to eat — just to see the john. So we each took a trip down to check it out. What happens in the bathroom stays in the bathroom so I will not give too much away. All I will say is heated seats and many features.

And just like that, our fancy dinner night was over. A great meal with decent company (it’s Hoover, what do you expect?). If you’re a lover of Japanese cuisine, Morimoto is a great place to check out for yourself.

morning run

1.5 miles. didn't time it...

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

goin' south...



Straw hat? check.
Boat shoes? check.
Confederate flag bandanas? check.
Jorts? check.
Racerback tank tops? check
Shades? check.

Welp, see ya later, Union. Off to check out the South.

this is a baby duckling chasing a dog around

first swim!

First swim in the train for the tri... thought it went pretty well, then I found out the pool was half the size I thought it was while I was swimming!!! Whoops.

So the workout ended up being:

5 rounds of:
swim 25 meters
10 push ups

Then I swam until I got to what I thought was 600M, but in reality was 300M. Whoops! There's always next time.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

wod

7 rounds for time of:

30 double unders
1 snatch, 50#

around 8 minutes.

same guy as the other day who was doin the same workout as me was doin the same workout as me today! and this time we actually talked about it. my first crossfit friend.

puppy time lapse!






we dont need no love songs. fitz and the tantrums.

adorable looking animal of the week!

Monday, May 23, 2011

muppets!

the muppets are coming! oh yeahhh!

Water Challenge Over!

Seems like this challenge went on forever...mostly because I had to go to the bathroom like 12 times each work day (no really...at least 4 times a day at work). But the results are in! During this challenge I lost about a pound and a half. Now this may not be attributed solely to the water intake, but at the same time, I did not alter my diet at all. In fact... I kind of ate and drank a lot this past week. I was expecting the scale to take a turn to the higher side. But, it didn't. Does this say anything about water intake and weight? No. Could just be a coincidence.

But overall, the results to me (besides the almost constant urge to pee), were not that overwhelming. I might have had a bit more energy than usual, and though I drank a bit, I don't think I was really too hungover. So that's a definite plus of drinking lots of water.

All in all, this challenge made me feel a little better than usual. Don't think I'll keep up the drinking at this pace though - can't handle the much-too-frequent bathroom breaks.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

sunday runday!

2.5 miles w/hooooov.

22:20

Saturday, May 21, 2011

sugarland

great concert! can't go wrong with opening acts like matt nathanson, who is just awesome and little big town who jammed out on the harmonies and did a country remix of lady gaga's born this way.

then sugarland was the best! every song was great. and you cant go wrong with a rowdy lawn crowd. another successful show.




little miss. sugarland.

a clipper ship






with a craft beer tasting? fine... nice way to spend a saturday.

Saturday 5k!


5k
26:53.

Not the best time, but I felt great and it was awesome to be outside on a beautiful, rare sunny morning.

guy jumps on field...

and gets away! when has this ever happened?!!



Apparently he was arrested after he got out... disappointing.

(via yrfriendliz)

Friday, May 20, 2011

morning wod

this one's for you, mal! happy friday :)

run 1.5 miles
12:53

3 sets of:
12 kb swings (20#)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

how did i never see this kid before?



apparently this dude's been making videos and been a viral sensation for over a year. i've finally crawled out from the rock i was living under and GOOD THING because this is funny.

thanks wcw!

wod

run 800M
row 1000M
run 800M

13:10

evan longoria - hero



Look at him pull a Dottie Henson move out there. Too bad it's just a viral video. Guess we can't all have hands as quick as the Queen of Diamonds...

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

funny looking animal of the week!


hoover's birthday edition!

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold


In “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold”, Morgan Spurlock takes us along for the ride as he tries to finance his film entirely by brand partners (spoiler alert: he succeeds). And the results are both memorable and quite humorous. As someone who works in the advertising field, I’m not sure if the content presented was much of a surprise to me, but the way it unfolded surely was entertaining and gives a “backstage view” of the marketing world.

Spurlock succeeds in signing on an array of brands to be official sponsors of his movie, including POM Wonderful, who bought a $1 Million sponsorship in order to have their brand appear in the title of the film, as well as be the only beverage included in the film (all other beverages are blurred out).

For me, the best part of the film was the irony present in scenes where Spurlock is interviewing people about product placement. Several times throughout the film we see people being interviewed talk about how product placement is alright, as long as it’s not obvious, and as they are speaking, Morgan is taking a giant swig of his POM Wonderful. It’s pretty well done.

The end of the movie was pretty cool as well, showing the culmination of all of Spurlock’s planning with the various brands and how all the brands have actually been placed into the film.

It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re at all interested in how marketing/advertising works, or just seeing the hilarity of the business. The brands that work with Spurlock throughout the film don’t really know exactly what they will be getting from this partnership, yet they are willing to throw A LOT of money his way. This was one of the more interesting things for me to see, since when I started in the business it was amazing to me how much money is thrown around each and every day. I mean, it makes sense, since marketing/advertising ultimately is supposed to drive revenue, but it is surprising to learn just how much is spent.

So if you’ve got a bit of time to spare and want to see Morgan try to balance playing nice with brands with his artistic vision, it’s definitely a film to see.

heard it babysitting....

Val told me he had something new to show me... but it was a surprise.W e walked into his room...

Val: Ta Da!!! My fish.

Me: Oh wow, cool! What are their names?

Val: This one is named Indiana Jones, and this one is Avatar.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

LinkedIn IPO

Debating whether I should buy some stock Thursday when LinkedIn has it's IPO... They were saying it would be $32-35 a share, but now it's up to $42-45 a share. Could it be a risk worth taking?

Other idea is to wait until the other Internet IPOs happen and maybe put some $ into Groupon...

Leave me thoughts in the comments section.

wod

Thrusters
2-2-2-2-2-2

45-55-65-65-70-65

ran 1 mile
8:23

Monday, May 16, 2011

wod

5 rounds for time of:
5 OH squats (30#)
10 reps, 25# dumb bell hang squat clean
15 push ups
20 double unders

13:45

best part of this was that right next to me at the gym a dude was doing this workout, but not scaled, as it was listed on crossift.com. that was cool, don't usually see people crossfitting at my gym!

then i biked 5 miles on the exercise bike. 15 min.

Challenge #5 - 9 cups of water

Okay it's time for my May challenge, and since last month I didn't drink, this one's all about drinking. Except drinking water, not alcohol. I've always heard the old "drink 8 glasses of water a day" mantra and wondered what sorts of health benefits it would grant me, but I did a bit of research and apparently adult women should drink 2.2 Liters, or 9 cups of water a day.

So that's what I'm going to aim for. This entire week I will be drinking at least 9 cups of water a day. I'm interested to see the outcome in terms of if I'll feel less hungry than normal. I think that a lot of times I may just be dehydrated and think that I'm hungry so it will be interesting to see how this week plays out.

So that's about it. Pretty simple, right? I'll let you know how it goes (and how annoying my frequent bathroom breaks will be)...

Sunday, May 15, 2011

sunday workout

morning:
77 push ups with bec! push up challenge!!

afternoon:
ran 1.5 miles
12:08

Saturday, May 14, 2011

images from bermuda



















saturday run

4 miles.

35:20

Friday, May 13, 2011

funny looking animal of the week!

i know you were all craving it. don't worry im back on land and im back to posting funny looking animals. enjoy.



via coolhunter

morning run

1.25 miles.
10:28

was able to keep up some wod's on the boat. here's what I did:

Sat (before departure) 1.5 mile run with the bro!
Sun - Run 400M. 50 push ups. Run 400M. 50 sit ups. Run 400M. 50 squats. Run 400M. 50 back extensions.
Mon - 5 deadlifts (25# dumbbells). 10 burpees. 7 rounds.
Tues - quick run. 1 mile.
Wed - run 1 mile. 50 squats. 25 push ups. 40 squats. 20 push ups. 30 squats. 15 push ups. 20 squats. 10 push ups. 10 squats. 5 push ups.

Friday, May 06, 2011

packing



off to sea tomorrow...

morning wod

run 800M
run 400M backwards
run 800M
run 400M backwards

13:32

running backwards is hard and i am slow at it!

800m cool down

Thursday, May 05, 2011

ben folds does ke$ha.



via devour

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

morning run

wanted to get a run in before work this morning but ended up laying around for a while. timed it perfectly so once i got outside it started to pour... good job me! short run.

1.25 miles
10:23

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

wod

warm up: ran 1.25 miles
10:13

21-15-9 of:
overhead squats (40#)
burpees

7:26

this was rough!

cool down:
bike 5 minutes

dad catches foul ball...while holding his daughter.

badass!



via devour

funny looking animal of the week!



via coolhunter.

Monday, May 02, 2011

wod

1000M row
50 thrusters (30#)
30 pull ups

had to stop the clock between the thrusters and pull ups for a couple min because someone was on the pull up machine.

8:10



God Bless America.

Sunday, May 01, 2011

alumni

great weekend. doesn't get much better than this...