Awesome Weekend Pt2

Last week I told you how I had a great time at my 5k on Saturday.

While that was a fantastic way to start my weekend, I had an even BETTER time at my bridal shower the next day! My beautiful and wonderful bff L hosted the shower at her parents’ house. I had requested a fiesta themed shower and L delivered!

She strung up pictures of Ale and I through the years (it’ll be 8 years when we tie the knot in three weeks!) which was super sweet!

She also had my  favorite beer (Dos Equis!), grapefruit margaritas, lots o’ delicious Mexican food, and a piñata too! It was so bad ass! No, seriously, the piñata was so damn tough, we broke a metal broom handle trying to crack it open:

That would be L and me, on her parent’s lawn, in dresses, trying to break a donkey hung on a mop. Classy. Oh and hey, you like my sombrero? Instead of a traditional ribbon bouquet, L would throw ribbons on my hat. Yep, we really are that awesome(ly hilarious) in real life.

Speaking of ribbons, I received some uh-mazing gifts:

Turtle cutting board from Pottery Barn!

My beloved Kitchenaid Mixer, I love you.

L had some super duper helpers for the party in our friends Daph and JC.  These girls and I go way back, all the way back to middle school! Thanks ladies!

In all seriousness though, talk about feeling loved! I felt so special! All these peeps came out to celebrate my happiness! I had a blast and I’m pretty sure everyone in attendance did too! How many times can you say you’ve been to a bridal shower that featured a piñata with mini bottles of vodka and rum? Oh yeah, that happened. What? This was an adult function, right?

And in case you missed it the first time, we are THREE WEEKS AWAY! NINETEEN days away! WEEEEEE!!!

Awesome Weekend Pt. 1

How to have an incredibly fun and fabulous weekend:

Step 1: Run a sub 30 minute 5k

On Saturday morning, I ran my third 5k. This race was in the suburbs, around an industrial park featuring a lot of science orientated companies. On top of the cool stuff in the swag bag like two reusable bags, chapstick, and technical tee, there was also a dj, massage station and most importantly, a brunch tent at the event! A local restaurant called Eggspectations catered the event and they had scrambled eggs, bacon, yogurt, fruit, danishes, bananas and bagels.

I ran the 5k with a friend I’ve made run my other two races with me. We’ve come a long way from our first one back in September. Our goal for this run was to beat our 5k time from December, which was around 34 minutes. Well, we did it! We both finished under 29 minutes! I even beat my half marathon 5k split which was around 33 minutes! We both put in more effort into our respective trainings for the race and it definitely paid off!

At nine o’clock, we were off! My friend T tends to start out fast and I could feel myself being pushed a little harder than I’m use to moving. It was around the time we reached mile marker 1 when he asked me how we were doing pace wise. I then looked down at my phone and saw 9:09 staring back at me. We were running a 9 minute pace?! Say what? Most days, I plot along at 10:30min/mile pace!

For most of the race, we kept playing a game of cat and mouse, trying to out run one another but once I saw mile marker 2, I really took off! I sprinted past T and set my sights on a chick pushing a stroller as my target. Man, this chick with the stroller was no joke, she did not let up for a second! I was at her heels until the last quarter mile when there was a hill to crawl up. It was then that T was finally able to catch up and pass me. I felt defeated for a sec until I thought, “good for him!” and decided to finish strong myself! Imagine my surprise and excitement as I was coming around the bend and see the official time clock read 29min! I was in some serious disbelief! ME?! Running under 30 minutes?? It felt uh-mazing! It felt even better to get my eat on afterwards at the breakfast tent!

T and I both agree that it was definitely a fun race that we’d consider doing again next year! Aside from two hills, the course is flat and the perks are pretty sweet. We’re definitely up for running another food sponsored race because truth be told, we run to eat. We’re just trying to avoid having to buy new pants.

In any case, stay tuned later this week for part 2 of my awesome weekend!

Once Upon A Time

Eight years ago on this day, nineteen year old Maria went on her first overnight college visit to see her high school friend Jane:

After partaking in an N.E.R.D. concert, Jane invited one of her new college friends, Alessandro, over to her dorm to hang out:

Maria had never met anyone as strange, wild, and crazy as Alessandro. She found him absolutely bewildering…but cute. Turns out, they didn’t grow up too far from each other and were from the same county. As he was leaving the dorm at 3am, Maria turned to Jane and said, “That’s my next boyfriend.” Jane laughed and said, “Yeah, a lot of girls think he’s cute.” Maria then said, “No, I’m serious.”

And so as she said, so it was. After shamelessly flirting with one another for a month over AIM (instant messanger, say what?), Maria and Alessandro made plans to hang out with one another once the semester was over since they lived close by. And then, on Memorial Day weekend of 2004, after a trip to the county fair, they made it “official” and declared each other boyfriend and girlfriend.

The End.