the countdown

I leave for Hawaii in one week. Well less than that, by now I'll be on a plane halfway there. After today's ridiculous run in the bitter wind and snow drifts, I cannot wait to run in warm weather. Yay. I've finally hit the excited stage!!!

updating: it's what you do when you have nothing else to do...

Sometimes I think that I all I do on here is talk about martinis and share good things that are going on in life but I know this isn't completely true because my sister always asks me about the dramatic things going on, so I manage to sneak them in somewhere. So at some point in the not too distant future I'll try to give a more in depth update of what's going on in life, but for now you'll have to put up with another recap of everything that makes me happy :)

Since the last martini night, February 6th, I have had the opportunity to spend time with friends and family in a variety of gatherings and it has been good great. Family Dinner/Superbowl Party last Sunday was great. I made a chili, or Lena did, and it was fantastic. I should make meals more instead of just eating pasta all the time. That's a big statement for me. I like having people over because it always makes a house feel a bit more like a home.
On Wednesday, I took a chilly walk with Jenna and Amy all around the teenth streets and eventually we ended up at Boatwerks. We of course took advantage of the happy hour offerings and I would like to state again, Boatwerks serves one heck of a strong drink. Just ask any of those in attendance for proof. This very well could be a top contender for best deal in town, seeing as the drink was only $2. Will we be going back? I think so.
On Friday I traveled with Esther to Portland to visit with Raquel, much like we did just a couple months ago and it was fabulous. I truly appreciate the fact that I still have solid friends from high school. I, however, do not appreciate being told that we still look the same as we did 10 years ago...I think we'd all agree that we look A LOT better! This is what usually happens when we hang out: We take 58 pictures and one of us always ruins it, myself for instance......

Saturday after work and before martini night I stopped at the Amtrak station to say hello to my sister and niece who are in "town" for a week! So great to have them here all the way from Minneapolis, talk about a long train ride! I snuck in some hugs and then met up with some friends at martini night. And the night was full of little surprises like Jon Paulus being in town from St. Joseph and Brian wearing a v-neck?. Plus I got to meet Janie, a friend of Amy's and a fellow member of SOTTP. I had the Captain Cosmo just to see if it is of any comparison to the cosmo I had days earlier and I have to say it didn't even come close. I'm only giving it a 6.6 because it tasted really watery. I'm not sure if the bartender just made it that way or if in general it's supposed to be that weak. Either way, not worth ordering again. Fun evening though, highlighted by a free sundae. Thanks Brian.
Sunday I brought breakfast to Zeeland for the fam and then went with my sister and niece to Pigeon Creek to go cross country skiing. I haven't done something like that since, oh say, sixth grade but I figured if a child not even two years old can do it, I can too. I'd say we were equal. I only fell once in the 20 minutes we were out. Haha. I would try it again but I feel like I'm so uncoordinated, like using the elliptical rather than the treadmill. Anyways, it was a super nice day and I'm glad I got to go! To end out the day I had more family time with even more family and then had a valentine's day dinner with my "other family" that was awesome.
Good week, good week indeed.

running late

i hate the feeling of running late. Or feeling behind on things. I can quickly get off track and not do the things that I really need to be doing. I am behind on here and now I have to try and remember what happened almost a week and a half ago. It's a good thing I have a decent memory or I'd be in trouble. So on the 6th I found myself at 84 East sharing a very pleasant evening with Jenna, Adam, Brian and Sandi. And when I looked at the menu, I found myself ordering the French Martini. This has been towards the bottom of my list so I am not sure why I decided this night was the one to go for it but I did it because at some point you just have to bite the bullet. And I was surprised. Seeing as the only ingredients are vodka and raspberry liquer, I anticipated the worst. This drink is close to the Money Penny which I gave a 7 already back in September, except it has cranberry juice in it, and I now believe that cranberry juice paired with vodka is one of my least favorite pairings. It really does nothing good. So I'm giving the french a slightly higher rating of 7.2. I can't hide the fact that it was strong and hardly flavored but it went down easy enough and though I looked forward to the sour patch kid next, I finished most of it. It made me feel like I could fit in here:

I had a fine evening and I like that it is becoming somewhat of a tradition for people other than myself. I enjoy coming in and knowing that the waitresses know me. I like knowing that there will always be laughter and quality conversations. It has re-convinced me that I like Holland, in more ways than one.

finally.

I finally:

• took a second to update this.
• started making progress on running and fundraising.
• started reading again.
• found new music I enjoy.
• had multiple quality conversations with close friends.
• struck martini gold this past weekend.

finally.

Now I'll elaborate on each, but briefly.
I don't know how it got to be Thursday already and frankly I don't know how it's Thursday afternoon and I still have things on my list to do that should have been done hours ago. This being one of them. Today has been so-so. I am beginning to wonder if I have picked a good mechanic, since now I have to wait til next week to get my car fixed. I only got in half a workout. My pants don't fit my butt. I've only read 1 page in my book. But in a way I purposefully didn't update quickly. I needed time to process a few things and this of course means not posting in an altered mindset.
I have, hopefully, started traing and fundraising full force. I need to stick with it so please keep me accountable. This might mean me going home early so I can run in the morning or not going out at all, but I've only got three months left to train and I want to make it across the finish line without injury. Thank you in advance for helping me through #4.
I am reading again and it's wonderful. I'm reading this and this at the same time. But not really, I'll most likely continue to read the latter and pass it along quickly.
And not news to anyone, I love music and I love finding new music that I enjoy. Sometimes it's mainstream and sometimes it's not but either way it makes me excited. I'm in a cd of the month club with approximately 13 other ladies and I can't wait to see what I'm introduced to over the next year! Here are a few I've been enjoying as of late: The Temper Trap, Phoenix, Josh Garrels, Hockey and Lady Antebellum.
I love being able to sit down with friends, and know we can talk about anything, and can hold each other accountable and support one another and laugh. Especially laugh. If we haven't done this in a while, let's do this soon.
Lastly, martini night. Fantastic evening, though it started out on an "emotional rollercoaster". The waitress comes over to Jenna and I and gets us started and I ask for my menu, so she leaves to go get it and shortly later she comes out with a menu she's holding close to her chest and a marker and she says "I can't find yours. I think we threw them away. There's only one back there and it's not yours." WHAT!? I about died. But Jenna helped me cope and I even thought it would be better because at the new year they got new menus and now half the menu will be in someone elses handwriting. So I thought maybe this was a good thing. And literally 30 seconds after I've come to terms, she brings mine out and says it was in our general pile. So I actually do still have my menu. Phew. So I started with the Strawberries-n-Creamtini. Delicious and undoubtedly masks the alcohol well. I'm giving it an 8.1. Finally I enjoyed a martini the first time around. But I was so excited about liking it, and with Sandi arriving, I was daring and tried another. The Cosmopolitan may have put me slightly over the edge but regardless I am giving it an 8.0. This says a lot for this drink because it somehow manages to go down very smoothly without being masked with tons of flavors. Compared to some of the evenings I've been having, this one was great. Not to mention the topics discussed and laughs had. This is why I keep coming back. Great service, great drinks and great friends.

oh, and P.S-

this is Lisa.

I miss her most days that we don't chat on gmail. Or our new found favorite, voicechat. Genious.