Feeling the Love

My blogger friend, Salt, passed on the lovely Liebster Award to me. Mucho gracias, vielen dank, and merci beaucoup. It’s always nice to know that people enjoy my little blog.

1) What is my current health related goal?

Stay healthy! I get sick rather easily and once I get sick, I stay sick. It takes me approximately 2-3 months (sometimes even longer) to get over anything. Right now, there’s a lot of stuff going on at work, so I tend to get stressed out and get sick. I’m learning how to manage my stress levels, and thus make it less likely that I’ll get sick. Sleep is really important to me in terms of helping me to manage stress and not get sick. I prioritize sleep now, whereas in past years, I’ve skipped sleep in order to get more work done. You know how runners feel guilty about skipping a run because they need a rest day or more sleep? I’m not one of those people. TAKE ALL THE REST DAYS!

2) What is my biggest irrational fear?

Whatever it is I’m afraid of at that moment – spiders, steering a boat, a trail with a steep drop off, etc. Once I’m scared, you can’t talk much logic into me. Ben would agree with that statement.

3) Do I enjoy wrapping presents?

Once I get started, but getting started is hard.

4) What is my favorite cross training activity?

Weightlifting and yoga. I’ve stopped both for the moment, but I can’t wait to get back to those activities.

5) If you came to visit me, what would we do?

What would you like to do? I live in New York City. The choices are pretty endless, unless you want to go mountaineering or surfing. As for me, I like to hang out in cafes or wine bars. Or checking out the quirkier side of NYC, like touring the Atlantic Ave Subway Tunnel (unfortunately the tour is no longer available). If you like to see the unusual side of NYC, let me know.

6) I have two weeks off work and two round trip plane tickets to anywhere. Where would I go and who would I take?

Obviously I would take Ben. If not Ben, then my mother. They’re my two favorite travel companions. Where we would go is a difficult one to answer because I want to go everywhere. Almost every week I send something to Ben with a note that I want to go there. Ben used to take these requests seriously until he realized that I essentially wanted to travel the world. Currently high on my list are Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Petra in Jordan, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. But honestly I could probably be dropped in many places around the world and be absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to explore that area.

7) What’s the most embarrassing thing to happen to me during a run or a race?

I threw up a couple times at a finish line. I really did give it all I had. It’s not an experience that I care to repeat. People were a bit worried that something was terribly wrong with me, but once I finished and cleaned out my mouth, I was fine. I didn’t enjoy the feeling of throwing up, and especially not with people watching.

8) Three best days of my life? Or at least the top three that come to mind. . .

Honestly I find this a difficult question to answer, so I’m going to change it to the three most important events that have happened in my life. These events are in chronological order.

1. Meeting my 6th grade teacher, Mr. B. He has profoundly changed me. If you ever wonder if teachers matter, they do. A good part of my personality was formed by him. He was the first adult outside of my parents who gave me unconditional love and for the first time I felt that I was someone worthy of being loved. He taught me to be unafraid of life, to take chances, to be my authentic self, and to know that I am someone worthy of love and respect. Without him, I think I would still be a shy cringing wallflower.
2. Deciding where to go for grad school – This decision set me up for my professional career and the friends and people whom I met who had an impact on my life (some good, some bad, some a bit of both, but they’ve changed me).
3. Meeting Ben – I’ve heard that whom you’ll marry is one of the most, if not the most, important decision of your life. Ben is loving and supportive. He makes my life better. He’ll say the same about me, when I’m not causing chaos in his life. Who you’re with really does influence many things in your life. I wouldn’t have ever lived in Jersey without Ben, but I wouldn’t have imagined that I would have a house in Brooklyn either. More importantly it’s the emotional support that he provides. Knowing that I’ll always have someone in my corner, ready to defend me (when I want/need it), that gives me a sense of comfort and security.

9) Okay, so I HAVE to eat a fast food meal. Which restaurant would I choose and what do I order? 

In the NYC area, I pick 5 Guys and order a burger (all the way, but hold the mayo) and fries. Ben prefers Shake Shack, but the lines are so long. In CA, In-N-Out, a burger – animal style, of course. Anywhere else, Burger King, Whopper (hold the mayo) and fries. Until I answered this question, I had no idea that I felt so strongly about burgers.

10) Have I ever met a celebrity?

When I was younger, I was a big theater geek and used to hang out after a show was over for the actors to come out. So I met quite a few that way, including Christopher Plummer (notably Captain from The Sound of Music – he’s incredibly lovely and gracious. I got to hold his hand!), Alan Cumming when he was in Cabaret years ago (and in Cabaret now), and John Malkovich (I could tell he just wanted to leave, but he was nice about stopping for an autograph and photo). They were all very nice. I live in NYC, so I’m sure that I’ve ran into celebrities out on the streets and restaurants, but I’m terrible with faces, so I never recognize any. All the celebrities that I’ve seen out on the street were when my friends pointed them out to me. Otherwise, I would have walked right past them. Celebrities must love me. I’m completely oblivious.

11) Share a pic of myself in non-workout clothes. 

Here’s one of our engagement photos, taken at Liberty State Park. I would have shared the running ones, but the instructions said no workout clothes.

12) If I could choose to have a “do over” and switch careers, what would I choose and why?

Funny, Ben and I often have this conversation. The problem is that I have some very strong preferences and quirks when it comes to my working environment. While working in the private sector probably means more money, we’re both not really sure if my personality is suited for it.

13) If I won an Olympic Gold Medal, how do I think I would react? 

Is anyone ever unhappy at winning a gold medal? My goodness! I would be thrilled beyond words and completely ecstatic. I would want the medal in either show jumping or eventing. I love horses and grew up riding horses. If I had even a modicum of talent (I learned how to ride by sheer will; it certainly wasn’t by talent), I would have tried to pursue it seriously.

14) What do I want for Christmas? 

Assuming that this question is about something selfishly personal, rather than being a do-gooder (if it’s the latter, I want justice and fairness in this world), I would love to experience the tasting menu at Per Se.

15) What skill do I lack?

Where do I begin? Hand-eye coordination. Being practical in life (I tell Ben that being with him was the most practical decision that I’ve ever made, which made him smile because he’s such a pragmatic person). Balance. Artistic abilities. Musical abilities. Being sympathetic to people who whine about their problems for more than 5 minutes. Having empathy. Being patient. I’m well aware of my short-comings in life. If I weren’t so awesome, I would probably be worried, but I figure my awesomeness more than compensates for those things. I’d say more about my awesomeness, but I’m really humble and incredibly modest.

Passing on the award

I’m going to use this opportunity to let you know about a few blogs that I’ve discovered in the last six months or so.

• Unlocking Kiki – Not a running blog, but an utterly charming blog about an American girl living in Iceland with her Viking whom she met in Australia. I know, it sounds like a movie or a romance novel. I love Iceland and reading about an expat life. I’ve always wanted to be an expat. I got cheated out it by being an expat in Canada. Canada barely counts as a foreign country to an American, especially when I lived in Toronto (sorry, Canadian followers – I guess I took one thing from my experience of living here – apologizing).
• Flexitarian Filly – She recently qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials and she rides horses competitively. She’s living my life.
• Cheaper than Therapy – Running and motherhood with a huge side of snark. I love her. Her posts make me laugh out loud for real.