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A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Red Rock Canyon May 25, 2011

Filed under: Family,Food,Hiking,Las Vegas — Kelocity @ 2:00 pm
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We slept really well, as we usually do in Vegas (those room darkening blinds will get you every time!)

Poor Irving was dealing with a gnarly cold while we were there. But we came prepared.
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He was a trooper though. I told him that I had a solution to all of his problems:
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I mean, there isn’t much in life that munchins can’t fix, right?
I asked for ONE munchkin and she gave me FOUR!
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Ohhh, how I miss Dunkins! Then we got in the car and headed back over to the Wynn.
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Vegas is full of strange things. Here’s the Palace Station Casino (where OJ simpson got arrested!)
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And the Sahara Hotel is closed! So sad! Another one bites the (desert) dust.
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We didn’t have any real plans for the day, but they suggested a hike in Red Rock Canyon! I’d never been either, so we seized the opportunity!
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Just a half hour drive from the strip, and we were there!
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I just don’t understand why they call it Red Rock Canyon!
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We’re so lucky to have such gorgeous landscapes in our country. I’m really glad we got to see this!
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We started at the visitor’s center and learned a little bit about the area.
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And have a little fun…
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Check out this stitch that I made! This was five photos I stitched into one! (Click to enlarge!)

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There is a 13 mile scenic loop and all along the way, you can pull over and hike. It’s a great set up!
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First stop was the big red rock, duh!
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Everyone climbed up to see the cliffs below…
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But I’m lame and played it safe on firm ground. (When did I become such a wuss?)
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I ain’t going up there! I’m fine riiiiight down here!
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These pictures aren’t doing this place ANY justice. You have to come out and see it in person!

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There were so many trails that looked incredible, and someday, we’ll come back to do them all. But this time, we only did the Ice Box Canyon trail.
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Somewhere in there, there was supposed to be a waterfall!
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It was such a cool hike. Unlike any terrain I’ve ever seen before.
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Sisters!
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We basically hiked on a dried up river bed (oh, spoiler alert, the waterfall was dried up in the desert heat!)
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The whole hike was about 2.5 miles, and in the high noon heat, it ended up being perfect.
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It was fun to scramble over rocks (although I was on the lookout for rattlesnakes!)
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And then we got to the place where the waterfall should have been… The supposed “ice box” part of the trail…
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Hee Hee. I’ll have to come back in the winter to see it filled with water! So cool!
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And then we started the hike back to the car.
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The whole park was gorgeous, if you’re heading out west, definitely make the drive, even if you don’t hike.
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By then it was 4pm and we were starving for lunch! We had bought a groupon for a place called Bambino’s East Coast Pizzeria. It’s owned by Bostonians who opened up a restaurant out here! I was so excited! They even painted their walls the same color as the Green Monster!
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We got some chicken fingers that were DELISH!
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And a pizza that was ginormous!
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Sufficiently stuffed, we hopped back in the car to begin the four hour drive back to LA! This time with a few more passengers!
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Wait, where’s Irving?
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Half way, we were in serious need of some fuel… enter, Starbucks!
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DUDE! Have you tried their new Coconut Mocha Frappacino? It’s amazing. If you like coconut, you will LOVE this!
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What a great weekend! It was fun to experience both sides of vegas. The Pool/Casino/Food side and the Outdoors/Nature side. So much fun!

 

The Kelocity Roundup June 12, 2010

Filed under: Food,Friends,Home — Kelocity @ 12:26 pm
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Nothing too life-changing has been going on. Just a bunch of random, everyday adventures. In no particular order…

Beauty on a walk
Irving and I went on a few great walks this week, but one day, we saw these amazing flowers in someone’s yard. They look like they’re from outer-space! Does anyone know what these are called??
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A Sad Day…
We are sad to report that we finished the jar of Nutella.
We had banana, peanut butter & nutella sandwiches for dessert one night.. MMMmm.
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We have to get another one ASAP!

Running!
Erika & I went on a great 3.9 mile run on Friday. (I’ll spare you the sweaty picture.)

But post run… I had the most glorious cold shower. YAY!
Then had some fresh strawberries.
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I ❤ when strawberries are in season. It’s such a nice treat.IMG_3981

Art on the Wall!
We are very excited to announce that after four years of living in our condo, we have pictures on our wall!
And not just any pictures… real nice ones!

Irving worked really hard to make a photo collage on the wall.
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It came out awesome!
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A view from down the hall:
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We plan to add two vertical frames on the upper right and lower left in the future.
(Seeing the frames on the wall, we realized it’s a lot of white, so we’re contemplating painting this wall green to make the pictures pop more. What do you think?)

We printed some pictures from our photographer, including this one (my fave):
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I still have to get a frame for that one though.

Blogger Giveaway!
I won my first “blogger” giveaway this week! I was really, really excited about it.
Peanut Butter Fingers sent me a coupon for free Monterey Pasta! I’m very excited. Thanks!!

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House of Pies
Last night, Ash & JR, Erika & Timmy, and us went to the House of Pies again!
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It was fun conversation and really good coconut cream pie!
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A Taste of Home
This morning, I woke up to a great cup of Iced Coffee from Dunkin Donuts. It really did (almost) taste like the real thing. Mmmm!
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Isn’t my life exciting?

 

The 2010 Boston Marathon: Pre Race April 23, 2010

So you might want to grab a cup of water and grab a comfy chair before you read this post. It’s sure to be pretty long. 

So backing up to the very beginning…
On Friday night, we took a red eye flight (on Virgin!) to Boston. At the airport, we saw an Emerson friend that we knew! While we waited to board, I played the “who else on my flight is running Boston” game. haha
 
Once we landed, we went directly to Dunkin’ Donuts! I avoided caffeine a few days before, but that didn’t stop me from getting a munchkin’!
 
My parents picked us up at the airport and we went directly to the Boston Marathon Expo at the convention center. Our flight arrived at 6am and the expo didn’t open til 9am. But it was fun to hang out and chat and relax before the craziness began.


Then they opened the doors and all the volunteers clapped as we walked in. 



And I got my very own Boston Marathon bib!



My dad bought me this Boston Visor!

 As someone on twitter said earlier, “I trick or treated at the expo”. haha There were so many goodies! Some highlights: Cape Cod Chips, Organic Granola Bars and Coconut Larabars! Mmmm I think my parents had fun walking around too. There was so much to look at.

Then we headed over to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge packet pickup. They had a really cute check-in. Everything was so organized and everyone was really nice!
 
When I got to my house, the rest of my family was excited to see Irving and I! 

Look who was first in line to greet us! I miss Mr. Gizzy!
 
We had a fun dinner Saturday night too!

After dinner, I tried on some of my new marathon gear and posed for my grandparents!
Thank you, Irving, for my jacket! I LOVE it! 
And the shirt I have on was the free technical shirt that all entrants got. Pretty sweet, huh?
 
My sisters and aunt got busy making signs to hold during the race.
  

But the first order of business was to figure out how to draw a “runner girl”. haha

And then things got a little crazy when trying to draw giraffes…. does this look like a giraffe to you? HAHAHA 

 Then I started to get my stuff together for race morning. I think it’s so awesome we got to keep our timing chips this year. Usually you have to give them back at the end. It’s a nice memento to have!

I attached it to my shoe right away.

I also pinned my bib onto my shirt! It looks good, yes?

My dad made me a sign too! Thanks, Dad!

 
That night, I slept for a glorious 12 hours. It felt SO good to be rested.
Sunday, Irving, my sisters and I headed into Boston for a Marathon-themed day! 

We headed directly to the Finish Line to take some pictures. 


It was a little rainy out, but I’d much rather see it rain Sunday instead of Marathon Monday!!

Next time I see this, I’ll be a Boston Marathon Finisher!

Then we found this awesome backdrop and had a photo session. 🙂


And with my sisters!!

Oh, and a shot of my AMAZING Jacket!! It’s official!
 
Then my friends met us down there! They came all the way out in the rain to say hi and wish me luck. They’re amazing. Thanks guys, you have no idea how awesome it was to see you guys!!!
 


And then, in a panic, I realized that my fuel belt wasn’t going to work, so we headed over to City Sports to buy a new one. (I know, I know, nothing new on race day! But this was an emergency!)

After a fun afternoon, we headed over to the Copley Marriott for the DFMC Pasta Party!!!!
 
I got so energized by all the DFMC stuff everywhere. There was a lot of excitement in the air! Peter and I found our names on the “Living Proof” board. We’re both survivors running for Dana-Farber!

haha, Ta-da!
 
So excited I got to share this with my sisters and Irving!
 
The room was huge!! It looked so good!

The centerpieces were cute too!
 
We ate LOTS of pasta! It was pretty good, actually. During the meal, they had a slideshow going. We caught two of our pictures!



The speakers were great. Uta Pippig was there! She has won a lot of marathons, but is best known for being the first woman to win the Boston Marathon three consecutive times (1994–1996). She was so inspiring!

And our DFMC Coach, Jack Fultz, spoke too. He won the 1976 Boston Marathon.
 
He had a lot of great tips to share. I think the funniest was when he told us that during the whole race, people would be screaming “Go Dana-Fah-bah!”. 🙂

And our very own DFMC Teammate, Valerie Bertinelli was there too! She was adorable. I’m so proud that she chose to be on our team. Thanks, Valerie!

 
She was even nice enough to take a picture with me!!
 
What a great night!
See you in Hopkinton!
 

 

 
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