Monday, November 25, 2013

Frames From The Weekend of 11/22/23

Linking up with Irina on her weekly "Frames From The Weekend" posts to summarize the happenings of the weekend!


My weekend began got off to a great start with a date night on Friday with Adam. First, we went to our favorite local neighborhood sushi joint for dinner:


Then, we went to see a performance of Wicked in the theater district. I had never seen Wicked, but Adam had seen it once before and wanted to see it again.

Left: The Wicked playbill and my Broadway in Chicago ticket stub
Top right: The gorgeous and very ornate foyer at the Oriental Theater
Bottom right: Looks like s
omebody illegally photographed the view from our seats while waiting for the show to begin (the theater ushers sternly informed everyone that no photographs were to be taken at any point while inside the seating area). 

Wicked was an incredible production! I didn't know much about the plot, other than it was the "untold story of the witches of Oz." I had heard many others say that the story was unexpected and very surprising, and that it would make me look at the Wizard of Oz in a whole new light. Given this, I was mentally prepared to be shocked when I went in. Even so, I still walked out with my jaw dragging along the ground. The story is ingenious. Now I want to rewatch the original Wizard of Oz to more closely understand some of the details.

On Saturday, three awesome ladies came over for a facial/potluck party:

L to R: Me, Kassia, Jen, and Vanitha

These women are the most amazing, inspirational, and supportive friends. I don't get to see them nearly as much as I would like so it was fantastic getting to catch up with them. As is usually the case whenever we all get together, our conversations make the hours fly by.

We always have obscene amounts of food/drink at our gatherings, too. Here is a very, very small sampling of what we had on hand:

Upper left: Mimosas courtesy of Vanitha
Bottom left: Homemade cookies made by me using this recipe.
Bottom middle: Grapes and Jen's homemade cheese spread (similar recipe here) on baguette slices.
Right: Gourmet Belgian chocolate squares courtesy of Kassia

Later that night and as is usually the case in my household between October and June, Adam and I watched ample amounts of hockey:

Upper left: Penguins versus Canadiens
Lower left: Hawks versus Canucks
Right: A little memento that Adam recently picked up while visiting Hartford on business (if you're interested, you can read more about the history of the Whalers here). 
Ever since picking up the Whalers shirt, Adam has been humming their theme song:


Since we're talking hockey, a couple of quick notes on the Blackhawks:

  • I was thrilled to see the Hawks score two goals in 9 seconds to defeat the bitter-rival Canucks on Saturday night. It was very reminiscent of the Hawks scoring two goals in 17 seconds to clinch the Stanley Cup this past June. To quote Patrick Kane, "That's hockey, baby!!!"
  • I am also thrilled that Kris Versteeg (aka "Steeger") is back as a member of the Blackhawks. I think he is going to provide the team a huge boost both on the ice and in the locker room. But hey, if nothing else, the Hawks just improved their weaponry in rap battles:


By the way, Adam doesn't think the video is as funny as I do. He proclaimed Steeger's rapping even worse than this video:


(For what it's worth, I thought both of those videos were hilarious. But, I digress.)

Throughout the weekend, I continued progressing on my Runners World run streak. I am up to 9 days now and feeling good!

Left: Running shoes and physical therapy equipment, all heavily used over the weekend.
Upper right: The weather conditions during my outdoor run on Saturday. T
he PNC YMCA Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day is currently forecast to have similar conditions. Therefore, I wanted to acclimate myself a bit to the elements in preparation (I've been wimping out and using the treadmill a lot this week). It was brutally cold and it took me quite awhile to warm up after I got back.
Lower right: Me dressed in my winter running garb. I opted not to wear my balaclava, but it will be making its first appearance of the season soon if this weather holds up.

I'm starting to get really excited now about the upcoming holidays. I've also been looking at Black Friday offerings and contemplating my dining strategy. Here are some pictures honoring my anticipations of festivity:

Upper left and lower right: A life-sized gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian in Orlando (these pictures were actually taken last weekend when I was still in Orlando)
Upper right: Watching lots of Food Network in preparation for the Thanksgiving cook-a-thon coming up next week. I think that the Food Network folks truly, truly live for this time of year. They were positively giddy on their broadcast of Thanksgiving Live!
Lower left: Mickey bag clips from Orlando, which will be a little gift for my in-laws in Pittsburgh when I see them later this week. Who couldn't use some hidden Mickeys in their pantry?

Who else is running Turkey Trots? Do you have a plan of attack for Black Friday, or do you plan to avoid the shopping attack?

I won't kid you, it's going to be a challenge for me to get through the early part of this workweek. Must. Stay. Focused...

22 comments:

  1. Congrats on doing so well in the streak!

    And this is going to sound weird, but I love seeing that you have non-blogger friends. Ha ha. I have met most of my friends through blogging or one the clubs I am in... it's nice to see people still meet offline. ;)

    I did my Turkey Trot yesterday. And starting shopping online. No Black Friday for me! (I will be working, anyway ;) )

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    1. Thanks, Kim! And I don't think the non-blogger friend thing is weird at all because I enjoy seeing the diversity of others' friends, too. It gives you a better perspective for who they are outside of their blog! =)

      Congrats on your Turkey Trot yesterday with Anne, Pete, and Erin! It looked like a COLD one out there. I just saw you posted your race recap so I'm off to read it!

      Do you use your Amazon Prime to do a lot of your holiday shopping? Amazon is such a great one-stop shop! Bummer that you will be working on Black Friday, but hopefully it will be a productive day for you!!!

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    2. Thanks! It was a fun race! I recommend it!

      Oh yes, I am ALL about Amazon Prime! :) I think I may use Target.com a bit this year too since we get free shipping. I am so lazy (don't want to go to the stores, lol).

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    3. Target is poised to take over the world! I love their free shipping deals, too. I used to love getting up at the crack of dawn to partake in Black Friday, but not so much anymore. It was frustrating not being able to find a parking spot, shopping cart, or my size, and having to wait in lines that wrapped around the store to check out. Online shopping is great that way. =D

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  2. Glad to hear you liked "Wicked". I am going to see it next month. I have the Wizard of Oz on Blu Ray for when the nieces and nephews visit, but maybe I should take a look at it. The sushi looks great. What place is it?

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    1. Ooooh, yay for you getting to see Wicked next month! I think you'll really enjoy it. If you get a chance, maybe watch the Wizard of Oz so you're familiar with it prior to watching Wicked, because there are a lot of references to/from! Let me know what you think of Wicked once you do see it. =)

      The sushi was from Sushi Pink, which is at 913 W. Washington. It's about 2 blocks from where Adam and I live, so we frequent it very often (to the point where the folks working there recognize us whenever we come in). If you're ever in the neighborhood, I would be happy to take you there!!! =D

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    2. Okay, I'll let you know how I liked it next month! Thanks for the info/invitation regarding Sushi Pink, it's hard to find good sushi, so if I'm going to be in your 'hood I will let you know! :)

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    3. I am always up for sushi so I am for going anytime. =)

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  3. Hooray on the streak! My running took a slide last week along with the temps, but back at it this week. No Turkey Trot, though. We host at our house, so don't nobody got time for dat!

    And a definite no to Black Friday. I'm so over the vicious crowds and horror stories, I just can't handle it!!

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    1. Thanks so much! I normally hate treadmills, but the weather was so cold this past week that I resorted to massive use of the treadmill. Yay for hosting Thanksgiving, too! I hope your preparations all go smoothly!

      I actually used to work retail when I was in high school. I remember the horror that was Black Friday from the other side of the checkout counter. At least back in those days nobody was asked to work on Thanksgiving night! I can't imagine how awful that would be.

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  4. What a perfect weekend!!!! Sushi is the perfect way to kick off the weekend, in my opinion. Plus you got in workouts, girl time and a hockey game, so fun! Wasn't Wicked amazing!?!?

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    1. Thanks, Katie! Yay for sushi and lots of diverse activities over the weekend! It sounds like you had a wonderfully relaxing weekend, yourself - and I am so impressed that you've got all of your Thanksgiving meal planning already tested out and ready to go. You're so organized!

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  5. It's almost as cold here in El Paso as it is there in Chi-town, if you can believe it. The difference is that we'll be back up to 60 degrees later this week. I have fallen in love with cold weather running though, so I'm honestly jealous.

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    1. NO WAY! Seriously? Actually, I have heard a lot about the enormous winter storm that has been blanketing most of Texas, so I am sorry to hear that you've been affected to that extent. =( Stay safe!!! And for what it's worth, I am honestly jealous of the warm weather you usually have in El Paso. Want to trade homes during the winter? =D

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  6. Looks like an awesome weekend! The kids and I saw Wicked a few years ago on Broadway and LOVED it! Such a cool twist on the the story. I am turkey trotting on Thanksgiving and bracing for this early cold snap.
    I will stay far away from stores on black Friday. Cyber Monday is a different story.

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    1. Thanks, Marcia! Isn't Wicked AMAZING? I wasn't sure if younger children would be able to understand the complexity of the story as it intertwines with the Wizard of Oz - but from what I understand, they pretty much all can!

      I LOVE Cyber Monday. It's even better than Black Friday, in my opinion. No lines, no parking, no cold. Just the comfort of your own couch!

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  7. Thanks so much for linking up!!! Hope you had fun making the frames :)

    I saw Wicked almost a decade ago and honestly can't remember the big surprise in the musical. Now I'm obviously dying to see it again...

    Congrats on your running streak! It's freezing here (here = both Chicago and NYC) and I already feel the struggle of getting outside. I'm gonna try to run Thursday or Friday, but I'm willing to hit the malls for 1 hour max on Black Friday. No crazy shopping for me though - there are a select few things I need so hopefully I'll be in and out in no time.

    -Irina

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    1. Thanks so much for hosting, Irina! I have a much stronger appreciation now for all the preparation you must put in over the weekend for your weekly FFTW posts. It took a decent amount of effort for me to remember to take pictures of everything I wanted to post about!

      No crazy shopping for you, eh? You have so much willpower!!! The holidays are the one time of year where I let myself go a little crazy. I chalk it up to taking advantage of good deals (even though I'm probably not always getting the best deals... but it's still fun to get into the holiday spirit. =) )

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  8. What a fun week! I've seen "Wicked" and loved it too. Glad you liked it.

    I am doing good on the Running Streak too.

    Love how you organized your photos.

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    1. Thanks, Zenaida! Congratulations on your amazing string of races this year, too! You must be excited to just focus on training for Disney now. Please keep me posted on how your running streak goes for you!!! We should definitely do all that we can to keep each other motivated!!!

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  9. I read "Wicked" and hated it so I was always hesitant to see the musical. But I've been told it's much better than the book so now I'm intrigued. Too bad Jason no longer works for the theater company! We used to get steals on the tickets.

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    1. Ahhh, I was curious what the "Wicked" book was like so strongly noted that you hated it. What didn't you enjoy about it? I think there are some other books about the whole Wizard of Oz storyline, too - I seem to recall there was a book about Glinda - but the musical was definitely worth seeing. I didn't know that Jason used to work for a theater company! Those discounted tickets would have been such an amazing perk! I'd go see a new show every weekend if I had that privilege. =)

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