How to so so so easily annoy me (Part II) or reasons why my kid will never own shoes with wheels

Let me set the mood: mid-town, sirens, summer, humid as hell, lunch-time crowds PLUS all out full-blown tourist season, students asking "do you have a minute to support gay rights, mother earth, Children of the Sudan" three lines spewing out the door for Jamba Juice, Chipolte and Cosi all converging on the corner of the shopping mecca of the universe:

Enter a girl age 7, possibly younger. Now que her to run directly into me.
She was wearing those dumb shoes that double as roller skates, shoes that should be illegal in mid-town. She was also playing hand-held Nintendo AND listening to an iPod! Talk about sensory overload. She of course didn't apologize and looked at me like it was I that was not paying attention while rolling down the sidewalk on shoes that have wheels, shoes that just shouldn't exist in the first place; like it was I that was playing Nintendo! in midtown! at lunch-hour! and it was I that, like, couldn't hear me say excuse me (because correct me if I'm wrong but like, shouldn't it have been you saying excuse me; I don't care if you are 7 girl, you just ran into me and you are lucky I chose Jamba Juice over soup today becasue otherwise you would be wearing my Cracked Corn Chowder instead of that dumb New York City Princess t-shirt ) where is your mother and where are your manners?

A Week of Heavy Lessons Learned

telling the truth seems so much easier than not and is ultimately so much more rewarding in the great scheme of it; that when you tell the truth, you have nothing to remember; that honesty is a great and necessary building block

that instead of being a reflection of your past or a product of your environment, you can be an evolution; that what once was is not, in fact, what will always be

recognizing the past for how it affects the present is a big adult step; that without all of our past mistakes we probably wouldn't be the same; that mistakes can make you beautiful and not just on the inside

what may seem "crazy" to other people can and may make total sense in your own head and sometimes, most times ...that's all that really matters; that too fast and too slow are all subjective; that there's no such thing as "perfect" but that it's possible to get pretty damn close

that it's okay to ask for help especially when the difference between asking and [not] could be the difference between living and [not]

that my body, knees and ankles will tell me when to stop way before my mind and heart ever will

old habits are very hard to break and new habits are equally easy to obtain

allowing yourself to be vulnerable can have astounding rewards

Oh so Simple

learning to say good morning in lots of languages and using them on my buddies in the morning

discovering that the standard translation widget to my surprise (!) gives you Russian phrases in the Cyrillic alphabet which can then be copied (and pasted) into IM windows and e-mails (челка)

wired magazine although not specifically the cover of the august issue (Dear Wired, Martha Stewart. On the cover? Seriously? Love, Amo)

learning to play the first few notes of Empty on the piano; playing the piano; the fact that you have a piano in your apartment

a two hour and twenty minute book club meeting where 8 girls prove to be about more than just Paris Hilton, nail polish, sample sales, boyfriends and Marc Jacob purses

thinking about getting another masters (head explodes)

researching just how to go about getting another masters (dr. master to the second power?)

fonty

starting a project post-graduate school. with no real deadline. on my own terms.

a coffee table book, 2GB of photos, endless possibility

ideas. juices. flowing

$209 short and three weeks to go

A Case of the Mondays

It's bad enough that it's Monday, which puts an end to the seemingly perfect weekend, but it's Monday AND pouring buckets which means I've spent the first two hours of this Monday sitting in wet pants with damp feet from my no-longer rain proof galoshes. This calls for recalling a few things that I am totally and utterly stoked about so much so to the point of losing sleep on an almost nightly basis and wanting to bottle this moment to drink again when I'm 60 and gray:

• Strawberries and homemade dark chocolate whipped cream
• Gifted Pineapple
• Tompkins Square Park on a July Tuesday night
• East river at sunset...pretending to see the sunset...
• Puzzle pieces
  
• Crying for once because I'm happy
• Aloe Vera
  
• Run Lola Run
  
• Soccer on the Hudson, my brother's bearded friends, a fan shirt (yes! I'm a fan)
  
• Running past the GW bridge, injury free
  
• Staying up waaay past my bedtime, getting three hours of sleep and not [at all] caring in the morning
• Herman Miller Chairs, danish design
  
• Coming up with new words for love
• Talking to the PIC and per usual laughing my face off
• Hoping for a red light
  
• Damien Rice. Rufus. Once. Once on repeat.
  

The [very] Little things

saying bang (!) out loud every time I type it

typing and reading in paragraphs

being excited to go to sleep just to pass the time more quickly

dog parks, "Barney" always thinking that my dog is more cute than all of them combined

sighing, like, every five seconds out of total disbelief that this IS actually happening. to me

giggling.

On Why I Run

post run stretches
post run euphoria
post run holy hell I just ran 10 miles, god i'm a f*ing rock star
pre run jitters
pre run superstitions (spaghetti dinners, chocolate milk, bagels, three shot blocks, lucky yellow socks, lucky underwear, right shoe first, double knots, believe me natalie at the starting line. always.)
pounding out my problems on the pavement
crushing pebbles, kicking stones, kicking up dust, the bridle path
slow deep breathes, breathing through a cramp
breaking my PR
nature
fresh air, early morning fresh air, being awake before anyone else in the city
learning to run and drink from a paper cup at the same time
learning that there's way more to running than just putting one foot in front of the other
excel sheets to track mileage, training programs, newsletters, running groups and partners, a running journal detaining mileage, food intake and body awareness
full dedication, expectation, motivation
the finish line
the journey
a new found hobby (or addiction) for life

Bang (!)

central park at night, midtown after dark, stars (!) in the sky in NYC (!)

the feeling that what you've been waiting for is finally here, the feeling that something magical is about to begin, the feeling that you just. can't. wait any longer

breakfast at Wimbledon (although not exactly the outcome of the men's match)

sleeping in, naps, pausing the tennis to nap

finding a stockpile of old Birthday cards and pictures and being able to toss them without hesitation or tears

waking up at 6:30 am to go running in a state park outside the city, hills, gravel, the smell of nature all around, Gatorade and water on the new hydration belt, a solid start to the marathon training season and a great partner to endure it with

fresh flowers

rotisserie chicken

very juicy watermelon

cereal for breakfast or dinner (!) and several times in between

phone calls from Berlin, text messages from London, my dad will be home on Thursday (!)

The Greatness that is so Great

Cool summer mornings that feel more like fall than summer

Wine bars, Barvarian red wine, white wine tastings, pretzels filled with peanut butter (!) good friends and so so much laughter that my face hurt this morning (!)

A trip up to the Bronx to see the Yanks play, the 7th inning stretch, Derek Jeter's athleticism

A german dinner and german beer on Ave C

Caprese salads, sangria AND my dog at the sidewalk café

The perfect 6 mile run to kick of marathon training season, the perfect weather to run it in, water fountains just where you need them and banana bread waiting at the finish "line"

Open-face grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches at midnight (!)

Asian Pub, Manhatta, Cold Stone.

Cosmos and the planning of a terrific marathon/raising money for charity bash

800 thread-count sheets, down pillows. Feeling like you're sleeping in a hotel bed

Saucony sneakers size 7, specific L and R Asics socks, Brooks running shorts in bright orange