Living Social Beerfest and Food Truck Festival

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Melissa and Erika are coming up for the Living Social Beerfest and Food Truck Festival this weekend! The festival is put on by Living Social at the Half Street Fairgrounds, right outside of Nats stadium. I L-O-V-E living in DC and getting to experience fun events like this. Even better? Taking the metro to the event and not having to worry about anyone driving!

While we were winery hoping in Charlottesville, I saw this sweet little deal and asked if anyone wanted to come. Thankfully my friends are compulsive and agreed to come! Who wouldn't love a little beerfest?


For a measly $35 a piece, the tickets were ours. What does the deal include?

• Unlimited Pours of 100+ Craft Beers
• Ticket to LivingSocial's Craft Beer and Food Truck Festival, Weekend of September 29
• Top-Notch DC Food Trucks On Site with a LivingSocial Specially Discounted Item (Food Not Included in Ticket Price)
• Live Music and DJ Dance Party
• Interactive Art, Backyard Lawn Games, and Activities
• Complimentary Pair of LivingSocial Sunglasses
• 5-Ounce BeerFest Mini Stein to Take Home

I'll be sure to put my sunscreen and my sunnies on for this:

You Know How I was Telling You...

...about Pro Compression socks on Monday's post? Well, one of the running blog's I follow, Skinny Runner, is offering a 40% off discount using code GARMIN and she's also doing a sweepstakes to give away a new Garmin Forerunner 10. Yes please!!!!

I purchased the marathon sock in LIME! YESSSSSS. I figured I owned enough pink things in my life, I could use a splash of another color :)

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I can't wait to try these bad boys out!

When I put my mind to something...

...my body doesn't always follow. I have the Army 10 Miler in ooohhhh....27 days. NBD. Riiiiight. HUGE deal. Since my project has been SO freaking hectic and the commute makes me want to shoot every person in Northern VA, I haven't had a chance to really exercise at all in oh, about 6 months. So needless to say I'm starting to freak out about running 10 miles. I mean, I know I've done it before, but to say I'm a bit out of shape is an understatement. When I ran the Color Run 5K I was super winded and my hips and left knee hurt. And that was only a fun run 5K (3 miles). Oh boy, 10 miles is going to be a joy!! The Army 10 Miler is an aspiring awesome race that words cannot describe, when I ran it in 2010 I was amazed to see how many single, double, and more amputees who spanked this race by running or hand-biking the entire 10 miles like it was nothing. Well, considering everything they've gone through, this race was probably easy-peasey. It makes all of my life's problems seem miniscule.

Anyways, back to my training schedule. I don't do anything lightly (stupid, I know). I decided I needed to do a trail run to assess just how badly out of shape I'm in. Yesterday I decided to run 8 miles. And how VERY PAINFUL were those 8 miles. I was ok until about mile 4 but then quickly degraded after that. I'd like to think it was because I didn't bring any water and was so super thirsty, but I know its because I'M OUT OF SHAPE LIKE WHOA. And my fatty thighs rubbed together in a not so pretty fashion and resulted in the below:

Yeah, it hurts as bad as it looks. Damn you chub rub!!

Well, at least it wasn't as bad as the last time. 

But the one thing that DID save me from hobbling today was these nifty PRO Compression Socks. I wore them during my race and afterwards (like wore them all day, even to advise the AU girls and their FBM). Here's me wearing them under my FBM formal attire (and HOW AWESOME is this chair in their Chapter Room?!?!):

How do these suckers work? From their website:

How They Work

PRO Compression socks are designed specifically to deliver both maximum comfort and speedy recovery times. The science is complex, but benefits such as improved blood flow, stability and comfort are universally understood.  The moment you put these socks on your feet and incorporate them into your game, you will feel and understand the difference.

PRO Compression socks are noticeably tight and require more effort to put on than standard socks in your drawer. But it’s that extra effort and much-needed compression that make all the difference. Be patient and your feet will thank you.

No really, your feet WILL thank you! I have practically NO muscle tightness or soreness today. I normally would have had all kinds of problems. These bad boys work WONDERS. I've only used the sleeves but they also have socks too. There are other brands of compression socks out there too. I found a discount on this brand through Active's Schwaggle, a sports based groupon system.

So I need lots of happy thoughts and prayers in the next month because this race is going to be BRUTAL on my body since I suck and haven't been able to properly train.

Pentagon Memorial

The Pentagon Memorial is a beautiful dedication to the 184 men, women, and children who lost their lives at the Pentagon on 9/11, either from being inside of the Pentagon or aboard American Airlines flight 77. The memorial was open to the public on September 11th, 2008.

Its very well thought out, each marker is placed in the year the person is born and depending on which way the bench is facing indicates if they died on the ground or in the plane. The youngest person to die was a three year old little girl, along with her parents. Their marker is together and its the very first one you come upon. The oldest person to die was 7, his was the last bench in the memorial.

At the beginning there was a sign with a telephone number you could call and listen to a pre-recorded introduction about the memorial I listed to the shorter version that was 12 minutes and got some really awesome insight to the memorial.

Other close by places worth the visit in my opinion: Arlington Cemetery and the Air Force memorial.

Here are a few pictures I took along the way. (P to the S: the DO NOT LIKE when you take pictures of the Pentagon!!)

Very pretty

Looking across the different benches

This is the memorial to the youngest death and her parents

Each person's year of birth was a granite marker along the wall

Then each bench was placed in the year that they were born. You can sort of see the silver line indicating that is a year.

This Day in History v.32

Back in 2007 (and even earlier in 2005) I visited Bath, England. In the South West of England, Bath is mostly known for the Roman Baths that were originally built in 60-70 AD (holy shitznit, right?)

From Wikipedia:

The Roman Baths themselves are below the modern street level. There are four main features: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and the Museum holding finds from Roman Bath. The buildings above street level date from the 19th century.

The Baths are a major tourist attraction and, together with the Grand Pump Room, receive more than one million visitors a year, with 1,037,518 people during 2009. Visitors can see the Baths and Museum but cannot enter the water.

A quaint little town, I could see the charm in living here.

Beautiful view from a hill. 

Liz and I with our flask purchases in a fun little local town.

Here are the past blogs I have written:

This Day in History v.1: Oxford Street Christmas Lights

This Day in History v.2: Beginning of This Day in History

This Day in History v.3: Paris, France

This Day in History v.4: Chinese New Year

This Day in History v.5: Pancake Day

This Day in History v.6: Berlin, Germany

This Day in History v.7: Ireland

This Day in History v.8: Platform 9 3/4

This Day in History v.9: Croatia

This Day in History v.10: Rome, Italy

This Day in History v.11: Scotland

This Day in History v.12: Stockholm, Sweden

This Day in History v.13: Cinque Terre, Italy

This Day in History v.14: A Look Back at the Beginning

This Day in History v.15: Notting Hill Carnival

This Day in History v.16: The Breakfast Club

This Day in History v.17: Australia Day

This Day in History v.18: Trafalgar Square

This Day in History v.19: Red Telephone Box

This Day in History v.20: Primrose Hill

This Day in History v.21: Look Both Ways

This Day in History v.22: Kings Head Theater

This Day in History v.23: Tower of London

This Day in History v.24: Cambridge, England

This Day in History v.25: Mountbatten

This Day in History v.26: Dorset, England

This Day in History v.27: Canada Gates

This Day in History v.28: Piccadilly Circus

This Day in History v.29: Stonehenge

This Day in History v.30: Guy Fawkes Day
This Day in History v.31: Cultural Sunday

Air Force Memorial

 

Even though I lived down the street for a year, I had never stopped at the Air Force Memorial before. I always saw it in the sky and wondered how I could drive over there. I finally figured it out when I was looking for a new place to live. Still, it was a full year later when I actually decided to stop by. Its very impressive and tall.

Of course while I was there I was rushed out because there was a tornado warning. While I ran back to my car, the skies opened up and the MOST intense rain storm reared its ugly head and I had to rush back home to safety. 

A little background on the memorial:

The memorial was dedicated on 14 October 2006. The three memorial spires range from 201 feet (61 m) to 270 feet (82 m) high and appear to be soaring; its array of stainless steel arcs against the sky evoke the image of "contrails of the Air Force Thunderbirds as they peel back in a precision 'bomb burst' maneuver." Only three of the four contrails are depicted, at 120 degrees from each other, as the absent fourth suggests the missing man formation traditionally used at Air Force funeral fly-overs.

Here are a few pictures:

You can see the Arlington Cemetery on the left.

Too bad the rains opened up and it was dark because the view was absolutely beautiful

Best Massage Place EVAH!

If you live in Newport News, VA I SERIOUSLY recommend DeStress Express for all of your spa or massage needs! I've gone to them throughout the years living in NN and any time I falter and go somewhere else I am left with the feeling of, "MAN, I should have just gone to DeStress Express!"

As part of my Staycation, I decided to treat myself to a massage! I immediately called up and made my appointment before I left DC for vacation and I wished that I could head to it right then!  Every girl needs a little pampering. Obvi.

This last time I went, I was in A LOT of pain. I've been SO stressed out and I haven't been able to work out since I've been working 60+ hours a week...who has time to workout when you're exhausted? Well, I went in for a normal message and Daniella was so surprised how tight my muscles were and how painful even to the touch they hurt! She did an intense 90 minute sports message. Let me just tell you it was the most painful/great 90 minutes that was. I know I needed the pain in order for it to feel good. But trust me, its a great place normally! 

Their prices are totally reasonable and they have a wide variety of services too! The masseuses are amazing. They don't try to chit chat with you; they create the best environment for you to relax in. I'm always comfortable there.

Do yourself a favor if you're in the 757, book an appointment today and ask for Daniella too!

*No, I was not paid, I just REALLY enjoy my time there!

EEEKKK!!!!! Make it a Double Bourbon

Well, for the second time I'm going to New Orleans!!! I got a hunkering to visit the Big Easy again and how convenient that my sorority sister, Mel, still lives there! I visited her and her gf back in November 2009 and it was HIGH TIME I went back! My bf is going to my favorite city EVAH, London (insert SUPER jealous eye stare here) for Thanksgiving with his fam SO I decided I needed to go somewhere too!

I had so much fun in NOLA the first time, I can only imagine how much fun it will be this time around! Mel has a big girl job again so she wont be working the weekends, so we should be able to have a lot of fun with her and Jenni! Po'boys and Hurricanes HERE I COME!!!

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2012 DC Color Run!

 

(picture was taken after almost all my color was blown off)

The most FUNNEST race of ALL TIMES!!!!!

Well, someone sure was a genius. Pure genius! Who DOESN'T want to run through waves of color? Who DOESN'T want to see how dirty they can get. Who DOESN'T want to be in a mosh pit of rainbow colors? UM DUH, doesn't everyone?

I posted on Friday that I would be running the Color Run in DC this weekend. I looked forward to this race all last week and this weekend! It didn't let me down! Even if you weren't a runner, this was still a blast. From young (like people pushing 3 year olds in strollers) to old, everyone had a great time.

I was a bit scared that it was at the National Harbor after the horror stories I'd heard about the last race. Well, we left early and for some reason since we came from DC the line getting there was super short. You could see the traffic coming from Alexandria.

I set my alarm for 6:40 am (too early for a Sunday) and my cab arrived to take me into DC. Um, side note, its super annoying when I schedule my cab in the morning its always 10-15 minutes early. Um,  you're going to have to wait for me to finish. If I wanted a cab 15 minutes before I asked, I would have scheduled it for 15 minutes earlier. Please come on time next time. Please.and.thank.you!

I got to Lisa's house in no time and we scooped Betsy up and headed to the race! Thankfully Lisa had picked up my race packet the day before for me so I didn't have to wait in another line!

Geared up. T shirt and a packet of color! For those of you who don't know, that's colored cornstarch

 

Trio of virginal white. Ready to get our color on!

the start of the race

thousands of people waiting the run!

 

AND MORE WAITING

All pretty and white!

 

Adorbs. Lisa and Aaron before the race

The race started at 9 am. We did not cross the START line until 9:45. I mean, they did a good job of pacing everyone out so everyone could have a great time, but I've NEVER stood at a race for 45 minutes and not even gotten anywhere. The race would have been a mess if there wasn't enough space between everyone. You can always tell by the people if its a real runner's race or just a fun run. Lots of people wearing some uncomfortable looking clothing and looking really lost. Oh well, its just a fun run. Although I thought the people in front of us were idiots for trying to take their under 3 year old through the race....she is WAY too young. Hence her throwing a temper-tantrum before we started. The color tasted gross, I can't imagine what a small child thought. I covered my face with a handkerchief and I still could taste that stuff. I bet my boogers will be black for a week.  Anyways...

Mid race pictures

Smurf station. This was one of the many color stations throughout the race! Volunteers stand on the side and chuck handfuls of color at us at a time. This was the last color station and everyone clearly wanted the blue!

Thank you legs for another great race!

Me post-race

Betsy's post-race shot

Color mosh pit!!! 

This part was REALLY cool! There was a stage with lots of music and it really was like a mosh pit..well a safe one, where you aren't going to get a body thrown on you. They threw color packs into the crowd and at a certain part of the song everyone throws up their color and you all get drenched in color!!

The BEST (well, smartest) part was that off to the side there were guys with leaf blowers who blew off the color on you! Well, not all of it, but a good portion of it so you weren't super gross when you got into your car.

Lisa drove us back and I took the metro home. Color and all. I wasn't afraid of getting on the metro looking very colorful, there are plenty of "colorful" people who ride the metro every day...so, yeah. Whatevs.

 Baller

Color in my hair!

Front of my shirt after the race

Back of my shirt. You could tell I'm a bit sweaty

Sweat stain in the crease of my arm.

P.s. baking soda works WONDERS getting the color off your skin. My clothes are in the laundry now. Second round and hopefully this round gets everything off!

The Color Run DC

I'm SUPAH excited, this weekend I'm running the Color Run in DC at the National Harbour with some of my Phi Mu girlfriends! Our team name is Pink Mafia and I can't wait to tear up the course and get doused in color!

What? You've never heard of the Color Run? Say what?!?! Ok, I'll help you out, geesh. From their website:

What is The Color Run™?
The Color Run™ is a unique experience focused less on speed and more on crazy color fun with friends and family. Color runners come from all different ages, shapes, sizes, and speeds; but everyone toeing the start line has a blast. Whether you are a casual morning mall walker or an Olympic athlete, the 3 miles of The Color Run™ course will be the most memorable and colorful run of your life!

How does it work?
The Color Run™ pretty much has TWO SIMPLE rules: 1)  White shirts (any mostly white T will work great) mandatory at the start line.  And 2) color plastered EVERYTHING at the finish!  Runner/walkers begin the 5k at the start line like a brand new pristine coloring book. By the end, they look like they fell into a Willy Wonka… tie dyed… vat of colored goodness. We are the creators of an all new paint race phenomena!

What is the Color?
Each kilometer of the event is associated with a designated color: yellow, orange, pink, or blue.  As the runners/walkers reach the Kilometer COLOR RUN Zones, they are blitzed by our volunteers, sponsors, and staff with COLOR.   All products are 100% natural and safe.  You can eat the stuff if you’d like (we have tried it and don’t suggest it, it is surprisingly high in calories and leaves a chalky aftertaste).  See the diagram below for the COLOR RUN ZONE specifics.  Of course, we save the best for last, ending the race with a color extravaganza of epic proportions.

The DC course will be run around National Harbour. I hope its not a fiasco getting there like the 15K Hot Chocolate run back at the beginning of the year :/

Both of the DC dates sold out quickly! Is the Color Run coming near you? Don't worry if you missed out, they have the rest of 2012 dates as well as 2013 locations listed too!

 

Locations!

I can't wait to experience this: