I have, once again, joined a gym. I think it will be more successful this time than last time for a few key reasons. First, this gym is only a couple of blocks from my office. Since it's easier to get to and I don't have to go home first, I should be more able to go a few times a week. Second, the rates for personal trainers are low enough that I can afford to meet with someone every week. That accountability should help keep me on track. And finally, this gym very much caters to working professionals. There are a ton of classes that fit into my schedule perfectly.
One of those classes is Zumba, which I've been curious about for a while. I attended my first class last week, and I have to say that it wasn't entirely what I expected.
I grew up dancing, and knowing that Zumba is dance-based is what attracted me to it in the first place. But I've been trained to expect a rather specific format from my dance classes. We always had a warmup, followed by stretching, then dancing and learning routines with frequent breaks to drink water, watch another group, or just change the music. Come to think of it, this style is probably what contributed to my complete lack of endurance. I'm used to pushing as hard has I can for about 3 minutes, then taking a break to recover.
Zumba is structured much more like an aerobics class. There's no stretching. There's barely a warmup. And the exercise is nearly continuous for an hour. I did well for the first fifteen minutes. Then I thought I might die. There was no stretching, so my legs started cramping up from running the previous day. I had to take my own, quick water breaks when I needed them. And I had to stop doing every routine all out.
The good news is that the class is definitely a workout, and it will remain a workout for a long time. There's really nowhere for me to go but up. I just need to remember to stretch before class and pace myself so I don't burn out so quickly next time. The routines we did were fun, and I'm sure I'll get better at them over time. Between this class and a weekly session with a personal trainer, I should have all the accountability I need to get my butt to the gym regularly.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Getting the Ring
Before proposing, Kevin picked out a diamond for my engagement ring. He opted to just get the basic setting, so I could help design the ring when we got home. I was able to wear the ring the night he proposed. After that I had to leave it in the box, so that the setting would remain in pristine condition and we could trade it in for a new one.
Kevin spent a lot of time picking out the diamond he bought for me. He went to several stores, both chains and local diamond importers. He looked at the prices of diamonds, settings, and also considered the service he received after he made it clear that he wouldn't be buying anything that day. In the end he decided to go with a local place, due to both the price and the excellent service they offered him.
Unfortunately that service went downhill as soon as they had his money. When we went back to pick my setting the lady was nice, and she helped us hone in on the setting we wanted. She also failed to offer Kevin a discount she had previously promised him.
We were told the ring would be ready in about three weeks. After two weeks, Kevin called to see if they had a more exact date. The lady who had sold us our ring chastised him and made it clear that she would call when the ring was ready. Reaching out to her seemed to have been a major imposition.
Regardless Kevin called again a week later. My mom was coming to visit and we were hoping to be able to show her the ring while she was in town. This time he learned that the ring had been ready for two days. The lady swore she had called him, or maybe that she had meant to call him.
I do finally have my ring, and I absolutely love it. As annoying as it was to be kept in the dark about when it would be ready, three weeks isn't so long to wait. But we'll definitely be looking elsewhere for our wedding bands.
Kevin spent a lot of time picking out the diamond he bought for me. He went to several stores, both chains and local diamond importers. He looked at the prices of diamonds, settings, and also considered the service he received after he made it clear that he wouldn't be buying anything that day. In the end he decided to go with a local place, due to both the price and the excellent service they offered him.
Unfortunately that service went downhill as soon as they had his money. When we went back to pick my setting the lady was nice, and she helped us hone in on the setting we wanted. She also failed to offer Kevin a discount she had previously promised him.
We were told the ring would be ready in about three weeks. After two weeks, Kevin called to see if they had a more exact date. The lady who had sold us our ring chastised him and made it clear that she would call when the ring was ready. Reaching out to her seemed to have been a major imposition.
Regardless Kevin called again a week later. My mom was coming to visit and we were hoping to be able to show her the ring while she was in town. This time he learned that the ring had been ready for two days. The lady swore she had called him, or maybe that she had meant to call him.
I do finally have my ring, and I absolutely love it. As annoying as it was to be kept in the dark about when it would be ready, three weeks isn't so long to wait. But we'll definitely be looking elsewhere for our wedding bands.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
The 5K
Basically it was a disaster. I didn't finish. I won't be doing it again. I'm a little mad I paid money for the experience.
For the past few months I've been focusing on getting to the point where I can run three miles. But I forgot one other very important detail about 5Ks: there are a whole lot of people at them.
I was entirely unprepared for running in a crowd. I started near the back, hoping people would quickly stretch out ahead of me. But this didn't happen, and I found myself trapped in a throng of people. I couldn't speed up or slow down without running into someone. The trail was too narrow to really pass anyone, and the number of children, dogs, and people having conversations made that even harder. So for the first mile I was stuck going a little slower than I really wanted to. I also spent that mile concentrating really hard on my music and trying to control my breathing so I wouldn't freak out.
Finally, the crowd started to thin out, and I had a little more breathing room. But right around the time I was feeling better, the people who had reached the halfway point began passing me on their way back. The flood of people coming at me sent me back into panic mode, and I had to stop running.
I spent the rest of the race trying to keep myself from escalating into a full blown panic attack. I managed to calm down towards the end, but the thought of facing the crowd at the finish line caused my heart to speed right back up. I skipped the finish line and veered off to the car with Kevin.
The crappy part is that I actually think I could have finished if there hadn't been so many people everywhere. I probably could have run for a lot farther than I ultimately did at any rate.
For the past few months I've been focusing on getting to the point where I can run three miles. But I forgot one other very important detail about 5Ks: there are a whole lot of people at them.
I was entirely unprepared for running in a crowd. I started near the back, hoping people would quickly stretch out ahead of me. But this didn't happen, and I found myself trapped in a throng of people. I couldn't speed up or slow down without running into someone. The trail was too narrow to really pass anyone, and the number of children, dogs, and people having conversations made that even harder. So for the first mile I was stuck going a little slower than I really wanted to. I also spent that mile concentrating really hard on my music and trying to control my breathing so I wouldn't freak out.
Finally, the crowd started to thin out, and I had a little more breathing room. But right around the time I was feeling better, the people who had reached the halfway point began passing me on their way back. The flood of people coming at me sent me back into panic mode, and I had to stop running.
I spent the rest of the race trying to keep myself from escalating into a full blown panic attack. I managed to calm down towards the end, but the thought of facing the crowd at the finish line caused my heart to speed right back up. I skipped the finish line and veered off to the car with Kevin.
The crappy part is that I actually think I could have finished if there hadn't been so many people everywhere. I probably could have run for a lot farther than I ultimately did at any rate.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
C25K Week Six, Redux
It took me three weeks, but I finally completed Week 6, Day 2 of the C25K program.
After I hurt my ankle, didn't really want to stop running. I went and bought an ankle brace and successfully completed the first day's workout for week 6 (run 5 minutes, walk 3, run 8, walk 3, run 5). Then life started getting in the way. Work exploded with deadlines and social gatherings. I have a very hard time saying no to a work happy hour, because they tend to happen rarely and they're good networking opportunities. But we had two in two weeks that coincided with project deliveries. Between this, I also flew out to California for Alumni Weekend. So when all was said and done, I was only managing to run once a week.
The running I was able to do wasn't all that successful, either. One week it was raining, which prevented my GPS from working and I wasn't able to keep track of my pace or distance. The next time I went running, my GPS was working, and I discovered that I ran a full mile in the first of two 10-minute run intervals. Based on distance, I had maintained a similar pace the week before. While I was incredibly happy about this accomplishment, I was also too worn out to complete the workout. I ended up walking home because I simply could not convince my legs to travel any faster.
The next time I went running, I made a conscious effort to slow down. Thankfully, the GPS on my phone was working and I was able to use it to maintain an 11:30 minute/mile pace.
Here's the thing. I felt like I was traveling so slowly for the entire run. I kept wanting to speed up, because I knew I could. But I also knew that if I ran too fast, I'd wear myself out. So I forced myself to stay slow and completed the entire run.
Here's the other thing. Back when I started this training program, I probably couldn't have run a quarter of a mile at that pace, even on a treadmill. To run nearly two miles, including a significant uphill portion and feel like I could go faster? That's a huge accomplishment that I need to acknowledge. And writing about my running is helping me to actually look at that and see it for how cool it really is.
The only problem was that after my most recent run, my ankle was absolutely killing me. I switched to a slow walk for the cool down portion, and it just exploded in pain. I very nearly didn't make it home because I could barely walk on it. But the entire time I had been running, I felt fine. Half an hour after I got home, I felt fine again. It wasn't the part of my ankle that normally hurts after I twist or strain it, so I don't know that it was related to my old injury. I honestly have no idea what happened. And it has me a little scared.
At any rate, the 5K is this Saturday. I don't feel entirely prepared, but I feel a lot better than I did a week ago. I'm not sure if I'll run again before the official race; I'll just have to see how the rest of the week goes. And during the race, I'll have to remind myself to not overdo it.
Wish me luck!
After I hurt my ankle, didn't really want to stop running. I went and bought an ankle brace and successfully completed the first day's workout for week 6 (run 5 minutes, walk 3, run 8, walk 3, run 5). Then life started getting in the way. Work exploded with deadlines and social gatherings. I have a very hard time saying no to a work happy hour, because they tend to happen rarely and they're good networking opportunities. But we had two in two weeks that coincided with project deliveries. Between this, I also flew out to California for Alumni Weekend. So when all was said and done, I was only managing to run once a week.
The running I was able to do wasn't all that successful, either. One week it was raining, which prevented my GPS from working and I wasn't able to keep track of my pace or distance. The next time I went running, my GPS was working, and I discovered that I ran a full mile in the first of two 10-minute run intervals. Based on distance, I had maintained a similar pace the week before. While I was incredibly happy about this accomplishment, I was also too worn out to complete the workout. I ended up walking home because I simply could not convince my legs to travel any faster.
The next time I went running, I made a conscious effort to slow down. Thankfully, the GPS on my phone was working and I was able to use it to maintain an 11:30 minute/mile pace.
Here's the thing. I felt like I was traveling so slowly for the entire run. I kept wanting to speed up, because I knew I could. But I also knew that if I ran too fast, I'd wear myself out. So I forced myself to stay slow and completed the entire run.
Here's the other thing. Back when I started this training program, I probably couldn't have run a quarter of a mile at that pace, even on a treadmill. To run nearly two miles, including a significant uphill portion and feel like I could go faster? That's a huge accomplishment that I need to acknowledge. And writing about my running is helping me to actually look at that and see it for how cool it really is.
The only problem was that after my most recent run, my ankle was absolutely killing me. I switched to a slow walk for the cool down portion, and it just exploded in pain. I very nearly didn't make it home because I could barely walk on it. But the entire time I had been running, I felt fine. Half an hour after I got home, I felt fine again. It wasn't the part of my ankle that normally hurts after I twist or strain it, so I don't know that it was related to my old injury. I honestly have no idea what happened. And it has me a little scared.
At any rate, the 5K is this Saturday. I don't feel entirely prepared, but I feel a lot better than I did a week ago. I'm not sure if I'll run again before the official race; I'll just have to see how the rest of the week goes. And during the race, I'll have to remind myself to not overdo it.
Wish me luck!
Monday, May 13, 2013
Initial Forays Into Wedding Planning
Anyone who knows me has probably heard about my plans to elope at one point or another. For many years, the whole idea of planning a wedding seemed incredibly daunting. But now that I actually have a wedding to plan, I'm finding myself more excited and less overwhelmed by the whole thing. I bet that will change between now and when I actually get married. In the meantime, I'm using my excitement to start getting things done.
Kevin and I have a really good idea of the (rather small) guest list. Knowing the size and date that we're aiming for means we can start looking at venues. We went to a few this weekend, and found two that we're really excited about. We're still waiting to hear about the pricing on one of them, and after that it'll be a matter of figuring out how much money we want to spend and what we want to spend it on.
There are other details that I've been set on for a while. I think I know what colors I want. I must have chocolate cake, which means we're getting two flavors and Kevin gets to pick the other one. I know exactly what song I want for the last dance of the evening, and I think I've settled on a song for the father/daughter dance. I reserve the right to change my mind, though.
I also signed up for weddingwire.com, initially because that's where all of our friends seemed to make their wedding sites. But it turns out that it's a lot more than that. They have checklists to remind you of everything that needs to be done. There are also a ton of sponsored vendors with reviews, which provides a nice starting place for a figuring everything out. And they have a nice little auto-budget too, where you can put in the amount you want to spend and it will automatically split it up across all the things you need to buy. We'll have to spend some time playing with it, though, as it doesn't really match up to our expectations. I'm not sure if that means we need to drastically alter our expectations or start looking for deals.
Additionally, we started work on a wedding website. There isn't much to it yet, but I'm still pretty happy with it. Everything seems to be on track, and I'm really excited for things to start coming together.
The only thing I'm still really dreading at this point is shopping for a wedding dress. I'm not really a fan of shopping to begin with, and I get frustrated at the whole process of trying on a million things. Plus I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept of spending over $100 on something I'm going to wear once. I know I'll likely end up spending more than that, but it still seems like such a waste of money. I expect the whole thing to be an Experience, and I apologize in advance to anyone who comes along for that particular ride.
Kevin and I have a really good idea of the (rather small) guest list. Knowing the size and date that we're aiming for means we can start looking at venues. We went to a few this weekend, and found two that we're really excited about. We're still waiting to hear about the pricing on one of them, and after that it'll be a matter of figuring out how much money we want to spend and what we want to spend it on.
There are other details that I've been set on for a while. I think I know what colors I want. I must have chocolate cake, which means we're getting two flavors and Kevin gets to pick the other one. I know exactly what song I want for the last dance of the evening, and I think I've settled on a song for the father/daughter dance. I reserve the right to change my mind, though.
I also signed up for weddingwire.com, initially because that's where all of our friends seemed to make their wedding sites. But it turns out that it's a lot more than that. They have checklists to remind you of everything that needs to be done. There are also a ton of sponsored vendors with reviews, which provides a nice starting place for a figuring everything out. And they have a nice little auto-budget too, where you can put in the amount you want to spend and it will automatically split it up across all the things you need to buy. We'll have to spend some time playing with it, though, as it doesn't really match up to our expectations. I'm not sure if that means we need to drastically alter our expectations or start looking for deals.
Additionally, we started work on a wedding website. There isn't much to it yet, but I'm still pretty happy with it. Everything seems to be on track, and I'm really excited for things to start coming together.
The only thing I'm still really dreading at this point is shopping for a wedding dress. I'm not really a fan of shopping to begin with, and I get frustrated at the whole process of trying on a million things. Plus I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept of spending over $100 on something I'm going to wear once. I know I'll likely end up spending more than that, but it still seems like such a waste of money. I expect the whole thing to be an Experience, and I apologize in advance to anyone who comes along for that particular ride.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Alumni Weekend: The Proposal
I had to save the highlight of Alumni Weekend until the end. Kevin proposed to me on Friday night, ensuring that it would be one of the best weekends of my life.
Kevin and I started dating about halfway through our senior year at Mudd - right after football season ended. Although we spent a lot of time together and fell in love during our last few months in college, we had agreed that the relationship would end when college did. We would be living in different states (Colorado and Virginia) and looking for jobs. If we found work in the same city that would be wonderful, but we decided to prioritize our careers above our relationship.
After graduation I got in my car, newly single, and began the long drive home.
It took about a week for us to realize that we hadn't really succeeded at breaking up. We were still talking every day and before long we were making plans to visit each other while we continued to apply and interview for jobs. Since we were still both looking locally, we soon found jobs in our respective states.
By the fall it seemed like the long-distance thing was going to be indefinite. We broke things off again, because it seemed like a long distance relationship would be too hard to maintain. We kept in touch but focused on creating separate lives.
Eventually we realized that however hard a long-distance relationship was, not being in a relationship at all was even harder. Kevin came to visit Colorado in June, and we began seeing each other more regularly again. About a year after we'd called things off we decided to give it another go. It wasn't too much longer before I moved out to Virginia and found work in DC.
When we got back to Mudd on Friday, Danielle made a comment about the last time she'd been back at North Dorm, and I promptly stuck my foot in my mouth by reminding Kevin that the last time I'd been there we had broken up. I felt bad, but my comment did remind him to go back to the hotel and grab the ring he'd bought.
Later that night we bought beer for the current residents of the dorm and decided to play some beer pong. After we'd set up our side and were waiting for Danielle and Eric to finish pouring their beer, Kevin told me he had to show me something. He took me back behind the dorm where he said "This is where we met. It's where we fell in love. And it's where we broke up. We should never do that again." Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
In true North style, we immediately went back to play some beer pong. We lost the game, possibly because I was too excited to really concentrate on it (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). Then word of our engagement began spreading among our class.
I'm really happy we were able to tell so many people in person and celebrate with everyone. On Saturday night Danielle organized a surprise engagement party, which of course included more beer pong. The entire evening was perfectly reminiscent of the countless nights we spent playing beer pong and hanging out in North Dorm. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect engagement story.
Kevin and I started dating about halfway through our senior year at Mudd - right after football season ended. Although we spent a lot of time together and fell in love during our last few months in college, we had agreed that the relationship would end when college did. We would be living in different states (Colorado and Virginia) and looking for jobs. If we found work in the same city that would be wonderful, but we decided to prioritize our careers above our relationship.
After graduation I got in my car, newly single, and began the long drive home.
It took about a week for us to realize that we hadn't really succeeded at breaking up. We were still talking every day and before long we were making plans to visit each other while we continued to apply and interview for jobs. Since we were still both looking locally, we soon found jobs in our respective states.
By the fall it seemed like the long-distance thing was going to be indefinite. We broke things off again, because it seemed like a long distance relationship would be too hard to maintain. We kept in touch but focused on creating separate lives.
Eventually we realized that however hard a long-distance relationship was, not being in a relationship at all was even harder. Kevin came to visit Colorado in June, and we began seeing each other more regularly again. About a year after we'd called things off we decided to give it another go. It wasn't too much longer before I moved out to Virginia and found work in DC.
When we got back to Mudd on Friday, Danielle made a comment about the last time she'd been back at North Dorm, and I promptly stuck my foot in my mouth by reminding Kevin that the last time I'd been there we had broken up. I felt bad, but my comment did remind him to go back to the hotel and grab the ring he'd bought.
Later that night we bought beer for the current residents of the dorm and decided to play some beer pong. After we'd set up our side and were waiting for Danielle and Eric to finish pouring their beer, Kevin told me he had to show me something. He took me back behind the dorm where he said "This is where we met. It's where we fell in love. And it's where we broke up. We should never do that again." Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
In true North style, we immediately went back to play some beer pong. We lost the game, possibly because I was too excited to really concentrate on it (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). Then word of our engagement began spreading among our class.
I'm really happy we were able to tell so many people in person and celebrate with everyone. On Saturday night Danielle organized a surprise engagement party, which of course included more beer pong. The entire evening was perfectly reminiscent of the countless nights we spent playing beer pong and hanging out in North Dorm. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect engagement story.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Alumni Weekend: Events
Half the fun of alumni weekend was all the official events. This is where we got a chance to catch up with all the people we actually hadn't seen since college. A lot of the graduate students are getting close to finishing up their PhDs (and mostly didn't want to talk about it). A ton of people from our class have gotten married. It was so much fun to hear about what everyone was up to.
The first event we attended was a wine tasting. There's nothing like booze to attract people and get them talking. This happened shortly after we arrived, so it's where we started running into the people we'd be seeing all weekend. Saying hi to everyone was fun. It was also amusing to see the older alumni and guess which college they had attended. A lot of the time it was incredibly obvious. The balding dudebros checking out all the girls were from CMC. The group of little old ladies in matching skirts were from Scripps. The aging hippies with dreadlocks and no attention span were from Pitzer. It was fun, and a little strange, to see how much the stereotypes of the various colleges hold throughout life.
On Saturday we went to a Yelp-sponsored event were we could mingle with current students and talk about what we're using our degrees for. But it turned into more catching up with old friends. A lot of local people seemed to only have come up for Saturday events, so they wouldn't have to take Friday off from work.
After that wrapped up, Kevin and I wandered down to Academics which had been painted and spruced up a lot since we were students. It looked really nice, though it still seems like cheating that the current students get maps of the underground academic compound. We had to figure that out through trial and error.
In the mid afternoon we wandered over to the rugby field for the official unofficial game of beerball. But despite Kevin's best efforts to get a game going, it was mostly just people standing around drinking beer until we had to leave for the official class picture. The picture ended up being a lot of fun. It was impressive how much of our class showed up for the reunion. Nearly 100 people were around, roughly 2/3 of our graduating class.
After the picture there was another wine social followed by the class dinner. The novelty of dining hall food was okay, though I was reminded why I always avoided it on steak night. After dinner, President Klawe came to make a speech, which was fantastic. She was so drunk she was having trouble standing and ended up holding on to one of the space heaters for support. She gave the shortest speech I've ever heard her make and let us get back to our revelry.
There were a few events on Sunday that I would have liked to attend, like the five class competition and the alumni inner tube water polo game. But travel plans meant we didn't really have time to go to campus. Perhaps next time we'll be able to stay a bit longer.
The first event we attended was a wine tasting. There's nothing like booze to attract people and get them talking. This happened shortly after we arrived, so it's where we started running into the people we'd be seeing all weekend. Saying hi to everyone was fun. It was also amusing to see the older alumni and guess which college they had attended. A lot of the time it was incredibly obvious. The balding dudebros checking out all the girls were from CMC. The group of little old ladies in matching skirts were from Scripps. The aging hippies with dreadlocks and no attention span were from Pitzer. It was fun, and a little strange, to see how much the stereotypes of the various colleges hold throughout life.
On Saturday we went to a Yelp-sponsored event were we could mingle with current students and talk about what we're using our degrees for. But it turned into more catching up with old friends. A lot of local people seemed to only have come up for Saturday events, so they wouldn't have to take Friday off from work.
After that wrapped up, Kevin and I wandered down to Academics which had been painted and spruced up a lot since we were students. It looked really nice, though it still seems like cheating that the current students get maps of the underground academic compound. We had to figure that out through trial and error.
In the mid afternoon we wandered over to the rugby field for the official unofficial game of beerball. But despite Kevin's best efforts to get a game going, it was mostly just people standing around drinking beer until we had to leave for the official class picture. The picture ended up being a lot of fun. It was impressive how much of our class showed up for the reunion. Nearly 100 people were around, roughly 2/3 of our graduating class.
After the picture there was another wine social followed by the class dinner. The novelty of dining hall food was okay, though I was reminded why I always avoided it on steak night. After dinner, President Klawe came to make a speech, which was fantastic. She was so drunk she was having trouble standing and ended up holding on to one of the space heaters for support. She gave the shortest speech I've ever heard her make and let us get back to our revelry.
There were a few events on Sunday that I would have liked to attend, like the five class competition and the alumni inner tube water polo game. But travel plans meant we didn't really have time to go to campus. Perhaps next time we'll be able to stay a bit longer.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Alumni Weekend: Food
The thing I was most looking forward to about Alumni Weekend was all the food that I ate constantly in college and have been missing for the past five years.
The first order of business was a Patty's burrito. This was so important that we actually went to Patty's first, before we even went to the hotel to check in. And it was just as good as I remembered, which was a relief. I'd been worried that I was somehow building the burritos up in my mind or that things would have changed in the last five years. I shouldn't have worried. The burritos were so good that we went there again the next day for lunch.
On Friday night, per Kevin's request, we went to Hero's for enormous burgers and beers. This was a necessary trip to celebrate the end of Zach's vegetarian ways. We took him there for his first burger during senior year of college, and it only took him one bite to declare his past self an idiot for avoiding red meat for so many years. We also celebrated our friend Autumn's recovery from vegetarianism, though she got a chicken salad rather than a burger. The food was delicious, but it was way too much for me to actually finish.
Just before heading to the airport on Sunday, Sarah, Zach, and I walked over to 21 Choices for frozen yogurt. Although froyo has become more of a national thing since I was in college and there are a bunch of good places in Virginia, it was nice to head back to the place were I first discovered the frozen treat that my lactose intolerance doesn't interfere with.
We did end up missing a few places because the weekend was simply too short. I didn't get animal fries from In'n'Out or pad thai from Mix Bowl, the place that delivered until two in the morning. It would have been nice to get to Bombay Bistro, but it also would have been a logistical nightmare. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the food I did get. Although now I think I'll be full for the rest of the week.
The first order of business was a Patty's burrito. This was so important that we actually went to Patty's first, before we even went to the hotel to check in. And it was just as good as I remembered, which was a relief. I'd been worried that I was somehow building the burritos up in my mind or that things would have changed in the last five years. I shouldn't have worried. The burritos were so good that we went there again the next day for lunch.
On Friday night, per Kevin's request, we went to Hero's for enormous burgers and beers. This was a necessary trip to celebrate the end of Zach's vegetarian ways. We took him there for his first burger during senior year of college, and it only took him one bite to declare his past self an idiot for avoiding red meat for so many years. We also celebrated our friend Autumn's recovery from vegetarianism, though she got a chicken salad rather than a burger. The food was delicious, but it was way too much for me to actually finish.
Just before heading to the airport on Sunday, Sarah, Zach, and I walked over to 21 Choices for frozen yogurt. Although froyo has become more of a national thing since I was in college and there are a bunch of good places in Virginia, it was nice to head back to the place were I first discovered the frozen treat that my lactose intolerance doesn't interfere with.
We did end up missing a few places because the weekend was simply too short. I didn't get animal fries from In'n'Out or pad thai from Mix Bowl, the place that delivered until two in the morning. It would have been nice to get to Bombay Bistro, but it also would have been a logistical nightmare. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the food I did get. Although now I think I'll be full for the rest of the week.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Alumni Weekend: Traveling
This past weekend Kevin and I went back to Harvey Mudd for Alumni Weekend and our five year reunion. The weekend itself was an absolute blast. But getting there and back was an absolute nightmare. It's enough to make me want to avoid air travel for a good, long time. Or maybe just United.
On Friday, we were scheduled on a 7 AM flight to San Francisco, followed by a 3 hour layover and then a quick flight down to LA. On the way to the airport we found out that the 7 AM flight had been canceled and we were moved to an 8 AM flight. The switch meant that we didn't have seats together. Instead, we both had middle seats.
All in all it wasn't the end of the world. But between the flight switch, only getting five hours of sleep, and learning that the restaurant I'd been counting on for breakfast wasn't open I was pretty stressed out. On the plus side we only had to sit in the San Francisco airport for two hours.
Flying home was even worse. The flight we were supposed to take from LA to Denver was stuck in San Francisco because of weather problems there. The Ontario airport is small enough that we there was no possibility of getting switched to a different plane. We just had to wait for the original one to get there.
By the time the flight was two hours late, the lady at the gate made an announcement that some people would be missing their connections. If this happened to us we had the option of staying in California for another night or getting a hotel in Denver and getting on the first flight in the morning. While a night in Denver wouldn't have been the end of the world, I didn't really want to extend our travel time so much.
Luckily the plane finally landed and we arrived in Denver with just enough time to run across the terminal to our second flight. If that plane hadn't been delayed as well, we probably would have missed it, but we got in just under the wire. The flight was even empty enough that Kevin and I had a row all to ourselves.
We finally got home around 2:30 in the morning, and I proceeded to sleep until 10. I can't even remember the last time I slept so late (which is actually a little weird for me). I'm glad I took Monday off from work to have a day to recover from all that stress.
Like I said, the travel was a nightmare, but the weekend itself couldn't have been better. I guess that's a trade off I'm willing to make. Even if I am slightly dreading our next trip to California in August. At least those flights will be on Southwest, which I've had a lot more luck with than United.
On Friday, we were scheduled on a 7 AM flight to San Francisco, followed by a 3 hour layover and then a quick flight down to LA. On the way to the airport we found out that the 7 AM flight had been canceled and we were moved to an 8 AM flight. The switch meant that we didn't have seats together. Instead, we both had middle seats.
All in all it wasn't the end of the world. But between the flight switch, only getting five hours of sleep, and learning that the restaurant I'd been counting on for breakfast wasn't open I was pretty stressed out. On the plus side we only had to sit in the San Francisco airport for two hours.
Flying home was even worse. The flight we were supposed to take from LA to Denver was stuck in San Francisco because of weather problems there. The Ontario airport is small enough that we there was no possibility of getting switched to a different plane. We just had to wait for the original one to get there.
By the time the flight was two hours late, the lady at the gate made an announcement that some people would be missing their connections. If this happened to us we had the option of staying in California for another night or getting a hotel in Denver and getting on the first flight in the morning. While a night in Denver wouldn't have been the end of the world, I didn't really want to extend our travel time so much.
Luckily the plane finally landed and we arrived in Denver with just enough time to run across the terminal to our second flight. If that plane hadn't been delayed as well, we probably would have missed it, but we got in just under the wire. The flight was even empty enough that Kevin and I had a row all to ourselves.
We finally got home around 2:30 in the morning, and I proceeded to sleep until 10. I can't even remember the last time I slept so late (which is actually a little weird for me). I'm glad I took Monday off from work to have a day to recover from all that stress.
Like I said, the travel was a nightmare, but the weekend itself couldn't have been better. I guess that's a trade off I'm willing to make. Even if I am slightly dreading our next trip to California in August. At least those flights will be on Southwest, which I've had a lot more luck with than United.
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