Weekend Wrap Up: Chili Dog Birthday Edition

Is it Wednesday already? Oops! Let's dive right in. Remember Gone Girl, that book I read and said I wanted to punch in the face? Well, on Friday night, a small group of us face punchers gathered to drink wine, eat delicious pizza and watch the movie adaptation of the book. I liked the movie, but full disclosure, I'd watch Ben Affleck weed-eat for two and half hours. I still standby my review of that terrible book, but the movie is good.

We have a birthday in the house! The initial plan was a low-key, 'Hey, we'll be at The Stone Fox. Come by and say hi!', but The Stone Fox booked a private party, so... a house party it was. The weather was gorgeous on Saturday and I meant to go for a bike ride, but I never made it. I cleaned my house and made browned butter chocolate buttercream cupcakes instead. I'm fine with my choice.

When we were in Arkansas for Christmas, John had the epiphany of his life: you can make, and eat, chili dogs anytime you want. So I decided to make chili dogs for his birthday. No one would eat them sober, so the chili dogs just sat there, taunting me. But as the bourbon kept flowing, people's chili dog inhibitions fell away, and then, like magic, I looked around and everyone had a chili dog in their hand. John ate like five. I'm not even kidding. It was amazing.

Jessica, who shares my gift of thrift, gave John the Ten Commandments. Why? Because she's awesome. John, ever the Boy Scout, went out to the garage and came back with not just a nail and a hammer, no, he came back with a picture hanging kit and securely hung that plaque on the wall. (It's still there.)

Oh, Sunday, the day of lost workouts. Did I get up and do my long run? No. Did I go to my 90-minute masters swim? Nope. Did I sleep late, make poor food choices and go thrifting? Yes, yes I did that. I obviously didn't buy this, but it's a $5 Diane Von Furstenberg sweater vest. I feel like everyone my age owned a department store version of this in middle school, probably, as my friend Casey points out, from either Esprit or Liz Claiborne.

True story: when I moved to NYC, I bought this fancy purse at Bloomingdale's that I LOVED. It was one of those early 2000's Sex & The City saddle bags that fit right under your arm. I couldn't afford Christian Dior, so I bought an Esprit one (tomato, tomahto). The fabric was red, black and white paisley and the foldover flap was black patten leather. I loved it! I called it the paisley hotdog. I kept that purse for years because I wanted to always remember the first fancy thing I bought myself as a New Yorker. There are assuredly two years of pictures of me carrying that purse. I'll try and find out for #tbt.

Weekend Wrap Up: Anniversary Edition

This weekend was our anniversary. On Friday I stayed in, painted my nails and watched Mortified Nation on Netflix. Have you seen that? It's pretty hilarious and I highly recommend it.

Saturday morning I finally took a class at Endeavor Performance. I say finally because people have been telling me to take this class for a year. Congratulations, you all win. This class was awesome. It was also my first time on my bike since Augusta, which was 6 weeks ago. Oops! And ouch.

Todd is offering some free classes right now. I took a free beginner class on Saturday and I'm taking the free performance test this week. This is a whole other post, but it looks like I start training again in 7 weeks and, if I can swing it, these classes may be a new addition to my training. To be continued...

I spent Saturday afternoon sitting on an ice pillow and taking pictures of Linda. It's hard to tell, but her head is laying on her paws.Y'all, this dog.

Saturday was our 6-year wedding anniversary. John and I met and started dating in 2004, so this year is a cumulative 10 years together, which is so nuts, especially since 10 years ago, John was 15. Just kidding. Kind of.

For dinner Saturday night, we went to Margot. We had such an amazing time. I don't know why we don't eat there more often. I like the cozy atmosphere and the food is unbelievable. We had frog legs! And they were so good! Also, that cookie plate right now is on point. Trust.

Oy, Sunday. It was a rough start. Luckily, I just had to run 10 miles. I can do that on 1 hour of sleep (approx.) and a belly full of frog legs and wine. No problem! Sigh... I met my lady gang on Belmont Blvd and we ran Bongo to Bongo, shockingly without incident.

I stopped at the store on my way home and grabbed stuff to make crockpot dinner. I made this recipe from Erin's Food Files. It was delicious!

Still in marital celebration mode, we treated ourselves to a fancy movie. We saw Interstellar in IMAX at Opry Mills. It was totally worth it! Well, says the one Baldwin who didn't spend the rest of night reading Interstellar sub-Reddits.

For your perusal, here are 500 pictures from our 2008 wedding:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16828091@N04/collections/72157624327179191/

Weekend Wrap Up: Ham In, HAM Out Edition

This Saturday I ran the Germantown Oktoberfest 5K with my friend Lana and approximately 70% of East Nasty. Because I PR-ed at this race last year, a few people asked me if I was going to try and beat my time. I looked up my splits from last year and realized I ran a 9:38 average pace. Yeah, there was no way I was going to beat that two weeks post-Augusta. I decided to try and at least keep my sub-30 PR, but to ultimately not kill myself trying. Famous last words.

After we took this picture, I asked my friend Hercules, aka Jeremy Taylor, what pace he was going to run and if I could run with him. And then one millisecond later, the start gun went off. He and Kevin took off and I knew it was too fast, but I decided to stick with them as long as I could. When we hit one mile, my Garmin told me we were running an 8:52 minute mile. Y'ALL.

I knew it wasn't smart, and they were starting to pull away from me, but I sped up and stayed behind them. Alas, I lost them in The Farmers' Market. Without my pacers, I slowed down a little and ran the last mile alone, questioning my life choices. My splits were: 8:52, 9:14 and 9:24, giving me a new PR of 28:23. HAM.

My friend Erin frequently posts pictures of this mythical place that serves chocolate gravy over biscuits. I've been trying to eat there for about a year now. On Saturday, it finally happened. After the 5K, Lana and I drove a few blocks to Big Al's Deli in Salemtown. It was the breakfast of my dreams and I want to eat there every day. I ordered Big Al's Breakfast (for $5.75!) and gleefully ate all of it. I joked on Instagram that I went so HAM at the race that I had to immediately go eat ham to replenish my supply, to which my friend Jenn quipped, "Ham in, HAM out".

On Saturday night, we went with friends back to Tango Grill, home of the # 1 Baldwin Sandwich, the Chivito Punta Del Este (# 2 is Secret Bellevue Cheesesteak - duh). I can't quit this sandwich. This picture doesn't do it justice.

After dinner, Mike and Amanda stopped at this butcher shop behind Tango Grill. Apparently John has always wanted to go in there (???), so we all went in. It was kind of awesome. We were too overwhelmed to pick anything out, but I'd like to go back and further investigate their pickled vegetables and array of salsas and sauces. I also just want to support any business who has this as their sign.

A week before my half Ironman, I registered for a December half marathon so I'd have something to focus on after my big race. Turns out, December isn't that far away, so guess who had to do a long run this weekend? Yep. Lana and I ran 7 long, slooooow miles and then treated ourselves to coffee and biscuits from Dose. I'm obsessed with this spicy egg biscuit. Obsessed!

Yesterday John and I saw The Skeleton Twins at the Belcourt. It was so good! I mean, obviously, it's hard to go wrong with Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, but this movie is really good. It was a little heavier than I expected, but I loved it. I think it's at the Belcourt through next Thursday, the 23rd. I highly recommend going to see it.

Weekend Wrap Up: Labor Day Edition

On Saturday, I joined my friend Cathy in Brentwood for a bike ride & brick. Cathy is doing Augusta, too. She has friends training for Jack and Back, so they let us tag along on their training ride. They took us on a 40 mile ride that went through Arrington Vineyards & College Grove. It was so nice to be off of the Trace! After the ride, we ran a 3 mile brick, which surprisingly felt good! Great training day!

I kind of blew it out, food-wise, on Saturday. After my ride, I met Lana for lunch at Korea House, which is apparently my recovery meal now. I didn't eat as much as I usually do, so a few hours later, I went to Sonic. And then a few hours after that, I went with John to Hattie B's. Korean food, fried food, dairy & hot chicken was probably not smart the night before a 10 mile run...

Little known fact: you can't wear headphones during triathlons. That half marathon I have to run after my 56 mile bike ride? I'll be running that alone with no music. So that'll be fun. Lana pointed out that maybe I should practice since I'm not used to running by myself. No one in my lady gang is training for anything right now, so I took Lana's advice & ran my 10 mile run on Sunday alone, with no music.

It actually wasn't that bad! I think all these weeks of riding for hours on end without talking has prepared me to run without talking. Who knew?

My legs were SORE, so John & I went to McKay to keep me upright & moving. I found a section in McKay that I've shockingly never found before - Speculation. Speculation! Lot of books on the Bermuda Triangle & a lot of books on unicorns. So, that.

We left McKay & decided to go see Ghostbusters, which was in theaters this weekend for it's 30th anniversary. It was hilarious to see a a movie from 1984 in a 2014 movie theater. It was also hilarious just to hear John laugh for 107 minutes, which he did, loudly.

Labor Day doesn't really apply to me anymore, but it hurts my extrovert feelings to know people are doing something without me. So I pretended that I also "had the day off" & joined Lana & Katie for a Labor Day Ladies Leisure Ride. We didn't have a plan, we just decided to meet at Katie's & see where the ride takes us. Well, the ride took us from Donelson to East Nashville to Metro Center. We stopped in Germantown & had lunch at Red Bicycle, then we rode back to Donelson. Hilariously, our "leisure ride" ended up being a 28-mile, 3 hour & 20 minute ride. Ha!

Thank you for the kind words regarding my last post.  That was difficult to write & I'm glad it was received with compassion & understanding.

Weekend Wrap Up: Yoga For Men Edition

After a two week Natchez Trace hiatus, Team Taurus was back out there bright & early on Saturday. Someone rode by us & yelled, "Good job, Team Braids!" so maybe we should change our name. Also on the table, Hell of the Dirty South, pending Marshall's approval. We did a 40-mile ride followed by a 2-mile brick. And all before 11:00am!

I had just gotten home post-ride & realized I had nothing to eat for lunch. Lana to the rescue! She was out tax-free-holiday-ing it up & needed sustenance. I told her I was starving, but too tired to drive anywhere, so I walked next door & met her at Korea House. I ate all of this. And then I took a nap.

Tiffany & Lily Sue were in town from NYC, so I drove to Murfreesboro to meet Tiffany & Lauren for dinner. These pictures are ridiculous because we were trying to get the Camino Real sign in the background, plus, you know our three heads. At one point, we debated getting Ella, Lauren's three year old daughter, out of her car-seat & having her take the picture. It's a selfie world & we're all just living in it.

I talk a lot about riding my bike because the 56-mile bike portion of Ironman Augusta seems insane, but here's a less talked about fun fact, I have to run a half marathon after that 56-mile bike ride. So in addition to my long rides on Saturday, I'm spending Sundays training for a half marathon. It's hard, y'all. But luckily, these things called lattes exist & they help.

You know what feels good after riding 40 miles, running 2 & then running another 7? Sitting down. On Sunday afternoon, John & I saw Boyhood at the Belcourt. I'm always worried I'll be disappointed in movies that garner so much positive press, but not the case here. This movie is fantastic. One caveat, it's 3 hours long, but as I learned from a fellow Belcourt patron, the time to get up & stretch &/or use the restroom is the Thanksgiving scene. You're welcome. But seriously, see this movie. It's so good.

To know John is to know that he suffers from sudden onset curiosity. These curiosity "phases" can last anywhere from a few years to all of the years. Sometimes it's normal stuff like ghosts & uranium, & sometimes it's more interesting, mainstream things, you know, like steel, or Reelfoot Lake. Anyway, right now it's Feng Shui. So after the movie, we went to McKay to search out Feng Shui books & I stumbled across Yoga For Men Only, published in 1969. This book is NUTS.

That first page is all about helping Harry regain his lost male authority in his home. Duh. But this second page is really something. Did you know that if you're a 42 year old male & do yoga just twice, that you can be engaged to a smoking hot 25-year old in five & a half months?! Believe it.

Weekend Wrap Up: What Is My Life Edition

My weekend started EARLY on Saturday. I got up at 4:45 to meet Mary Katherine & Julie for a 45-mile bike ride & 2-mile brick (run). I was back home by 11:00. It's real weird to exercise to that extreme & be back home before lunch, or before your husband is awake. It definitely set off the 'what is my life' mantra that continued throughout the weekend.

Oh yeah, this is my life. Duh.

My bike hasn't been shifting correctly, so I dropped it off at Red Kite for a tune-up & then went to check out the NRC West grand opening. While I was out ignoring the imminent atrophy of my quadriceps, I swung into Walgreens & bought this $5 nail pen. I'm into it. One thing, actually two things. One, put a top coat over it. I didn't & it came off the next day. Two, make sure you have someone around who can do your right (or left) hand.

I've been ignoring the 6:30am open water swim Mary Katherine does every Sunday because - well, it's a 6:30am open water swim on a Sunday. But I decided to try it this week because I am apparently a cyborg who no longer requires sleep on the weekends.

It was a good endurance swim, but I may need to supplement with other open water swims that incorporate speed work & drills. It's great practice if you've got an open water race coming up though, particularly olympic distance or greater.

After the swim, I did a real terrible 6-mile run with Jaime & then went home & transformed from triathlete into wife. Y'all, I have not worn makeup or real pants in like a month. At least. So I put on a dress, & a Tattly, natch, & went to lunch with my husband. We went to this real fancy place close to Vanderbilt. It's called Pizza Perfect. Joie de vivre.

You know our dog's named Linda McCartney, right? So surely you know my husband's love for The Beatles is next level. After lunch, we went over to the Belcourt to see the last showing of A Hard Day's Night. While we were waiting for the movie to start, John told me when this movie came out in 1964, his mom & her friends camped out at the movie theater & watched it over & over. I mean, I camped out for Glitter, but I only watched it once.

Weekend Wrap Up: 4th of July Edition

Friends who braid together, stay together. I've started copying Mary Katherine's braids for our long rides. I just like the way it looks, but MK says it keeps her from getting ponytail-related helmet-headaches. My favorite part about this picture is the body language of the guy standing in front of us. He told us afterwards that he didn't understand why we turned our backs to the camera. He's so sassily confused.

I snapped this pic mid-ride because I had never ridden this far on Natchez Trace before. I think it's I-840. Saturday was such a gorgeous day for a long Trace ride. It was 56 degrees when we started. We debated wearing arm warmers. In July!

After lunch & a nap, I pulled myself together & met Jaime & Lana at the Belcourt to see Obvious Child. None of us 100% knew what to expect from this movie, but we all liked it. I love Jenny Slate & the character she plays in this movie is hilarious. It's kind of an indie, rom-com, but it works. I liked it!

After the movie, we headed to The Stone Fox for dinner & drinks, except I didn't drink because I was barely awake at this point. Oh, and 'this point' was 7:00pm. Have I mentioned how much fun I am on weekends now?

On Sunday, I met Jaime & Lana for a torturous 6-mile run that I did not enjoy AT ALL. My legs were shot from the day before. Luckily, my body can basically run on auto-pilot at this point.

Most of the organized open water swims (OWS) were cancelled this weekend due to the 4th of July holiday, so when my friends Karen & Paul invited me to meet them at Anderson Road Rec Area on Sunday morning, I jumped at the chance. It was so crowded & choppy, but we got in a 1,000m swim. It was great practice for me because Paul is faster than I am & I could pace myself by trying to stay right behind him. Well, mostly. Thanks, Team Putnam!

Memorial Day Weekend Wrap Up: Kick Off Your Sunday Shoes Edition

This was a light work-out weekend, which was nice. I didn't have to run on Saturday, so I went to my beloved Iyengar yoga class. Afterwards, Lana & I drove to Anderson Road Beach for an open water swim. My first triathlon is in two weeks & it's open water, so I need the practice. That water was COLD.

Women be shopping. I had birthday money burning a hole in my pocket, so I bought the duvet I've had my eye on for oh, 5 years now. In addition to the birthday money, I had some Target gift cards, so I went with the Threshold duvet instead of the West Elm one. I also treated myself to fancy new Rifle Paper Co. thank you cards & my favorite candle from Anthropologie (thanks, Mom!).

John & I are in the midst of a heavy Thai Kitchen phase. We've always eaten there, but here lately, we're there at least once a week. This is our classic order: crispy thai basil chicken with a fried egg. I could eat it every day, & I almost am.

Caroline met me on the Trace Sunday to help me with shifting & descending. Usually when I ride on the Trace, I ride out for 45 minutes, turn around & ride back for 45 minutes. But Sunday, we rode the same 4-mile loop 4 times. It was constant climbing & descending. Good practice, but sweet Yeezus, my quads.

So good news, bad news. The good news is, I'm not terrible at riding my bike. The bad news is, my body & my bike don't match, which anyone who's seen me on my bike, already knows. My seat is too low, my knees are at the wrong angle & my handlebars are too far away from my body, possibly explaining the perma-claw my left hand has been in for 2 weeks. Next step: professional bike fitting.

After my 90-minute ride & 2-mile run, I rewarded myself with a mini Veronica Mars marathon (I'm in the middle of Season Two). After a few hours, my muscles started to atrophy, so I got up & put my new duvet on the bed. There are few things in life as taxing as shoving a down comforter into a duvet. But alas, I am not a quitter. Also? The duvet had ties in the corners to hold the comforter in place.

I like it! Our bedroom is the least finished room in our house & it makes me crazy. This is a huge first step. Now I just need to frame all the art I've bought for that room & decide on curtains. Ooh, & maybe replace those bedside lamps.

When I rode with my coach on Sunday, she complimented me on having good balance. We talked about how I've been practicing yoga since 2001 & that's probably why, etc. She said to feel free to add more yoga into my training schedule & that there's all kinds of free yoga on YouTube & OnDemand if I can't find time for a legit class.

Yesterday I performed a very scientific search for a video by Googling "yoga for runners" & doing the first video that came up. Shockingly, I liked the video & felt totally normal doing it at home. This is the video I did. It had a lot of hip openers & IT band stretches. I may look for a longer video, but this one did the trick.

I was real proud of myself for the yoga, especially on a rest day & ESPECIALLY on a holiday, so I made cookies. Of course I did. I made my usual chocolate chunk cookies courtesy of Crepes of Wrath. They're my standard chocolate chip cookies. I love them.

Because I'm a terrible person, I didn't go to the two Memorial Day pool party/cook-outs that I was invited to. Instead, I took off my pants (too many cookies), crawled into bed & watched Footloose & Grease, back to back. If you haven't re-watched Footloose as an adult, I highly recommend it. I was 8 years old when Footloose came out & it was one of the hallmark movies of my childhood. I had the soundtrack, which I'm probably going to buy on iTunes later today & listen to incessantly while daydreaming about 1984 Kevin Bacon.

I leave you with this, my favorite dance sequence from the movie. Stick with it, the real magic happens around 2:02. See you in my dreams, Ren McCormack.

Weekend Wrap Up: John's Birthday Edition

This was a pretty low-key weekend.  On Saturday, I did my super awesome Iyengar yoga class at the Downtown Y & then stayed & did my weight routine.  It was COLD on Saturday.  Too cold to go outside, so I sheltered in place & spent the day reading The Goldfinch, which A) I'm almost through with & B) I'm LOVING.

On Saturday night, we celebrated John's birthday.  We invited some friends to meet us for dinner at Slow & Low BBQ Bistro.  John, true to form, ordered a plate of pulled pork with a side of ribs.  I knew this was going to lead to digestive failure, & it did, but when your carnivore husband orders meat with a side of meat for his birthday dinner, you let him.

After dinner, we rendezvoused back at our house.  John's friend Mike presented him with what is probably the best gift John has ever received, a case of glass-bottle Mexican Coca-Cola.  The men folk spent the night smoking in the garage while the women folk gossiped away the night in the warmth of the living room.

Running on about 4 hours of sleep & not even close to enough water, I met my lady gang at Percy Warner to run the 5.8.  As much as I didn't want to do it, it actually turned out to be a great run.  Thanks, Kristine!  Afterwards, we grabbed breakfast at Bread & Co. in Belle Meade.

I'm real behind on the Oscar-nominated movies, so yesterday John & I went to see Her.  I've heard mixed reviews, but I loved it.  And John REALLY loved it.  It's kind of like nothing else I've ever seen.  I can't stop thinking about it.  Next up:  American Hustle & The Wolf of Wall Street.