Christmas and my birthday

So I have been nagging my friend Nirit to write a blog entry, while I have yet to write my own since Dec 12. The goal was both of us were going to write one on the same day, today, on Christmas. I really enjoy reading her entries, as she tends to write in a similar, confessional tone. I especially enjoyed reading hers today as I felt she wrote it from the core.

Nathan's Red Velvet brownies made their debut!

Nirit and her sister Elia are visiting from Phoenix. They haven't been here in 3.5 years so it's a treat to spend Christmas with them. Today we went to see the movie "I Love You Phillip Morris" with Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor. It was really good, but really sad and really funny in other parts. Ewan is my ultimate physical type. I love his very Scottish looks with the freckles and the reddish/blond hair. In this movie he looked golden almost. *Sigh* They definitely added highlights to his hair.

I had never really been into Ewan until I saw the movie "Moulin Rouge". In that movie he was singing and dancing and had dyed black hair. I guess I just developed my crush back then. Nirit told me today she remembers an old blog entry of mine where I describe that I pretended that he was singing to me instead of Nicole Kidman in the film.

I love my red velvet cake!

The 35th birthday party I threw last weekend for myself went really well. I was really worried there was going to be too many people in the condo. Some people didn't show up, but for the most part everyone who RSVP'd came. I think there were about 30 people at one point, but some people were talking outside so they all weren't in my place at one time.  It was nice to finally have people over when most of it was in an acceptable condition. I still need new carpet in the bedrooms and a dresser and end tables, but I am relatively happy.

Although after all the rain we have had in the past week (6 straight days of rain), there is now some leaking along the wall above my fireplace. That really stresses me out. I have no control over the situation and it just really upsets me. I am worried it will cost thousands of dollars. What if the dry wall is ruined? What if there is moisture inside somewhere I can't see? Ugggh, I am trying not to obsess but since it's a holiday weekend it won't be resolved until next week most likely.

Back to the party, Jason got me a delicious red velvet cake. We got it at a local bakery/coffee house called Twiggs. I also made red velvet cupcakes from scratch along with cream cheese frosting. Upon my request my friend Nathan made red velvet brownies! They were so good. He had been experimenting for weeks and finally felt the recipe was ready. He was supposed to ship them to me Fed Ex 3-day so it wouldn't cost a fortune, but he had no access to a kitchen to bake them until 2 days before the party, so $70 later, I got them delivered to my office on the Friday before the party. I was shocked they cost that much to ship and felt bad Nathan had to spend the money. Well, it was for a good cause and everyone ate them up. I had no leftovers for that dish!

Holiday Birthday party

I am determined to write more posts in December than I did in November! I did make more of an effort in Nov, but I really need to work on it. I have ideas in my head and then I am too lazy or tired. Excuses.

Wow, so I posted around Thanksgiving that I was sick. Well, the cold or whatever I had took a little over 2 weeks to completely go away. I cannot recall a cold that has ever lasted that long. Going running during this stretch of time probably didn't help matters, but I felt ok to run. Now I finally feel healthy again. I am still blowing my nose occasionally but it is very minor. And at least it's clear in its color.

Nathan's Red Velvet Brownies

My 35th birthday is coming up on Dec 20. I really don't like these 30-something birthdays. I used to think 30 is old. Now 35?? I decided to throw myself a holiday/bday party. I have 28 RSVPs so far. I have no clue how I will fit everyone into my 800 sq ft condo. I hope people come and go. Then it will be manageable. My friend Nathan Noland is a pastry chef from NYC, and upon my request, he is mailing me red velvet brownies for my party. Since there is such a red velvet cake and cup cake craze right now, I wanted to have something different. Although I am actually going to make green velvet cupcakes (I just bought the food coloring today!), this will be a nice addition to all the other sweets. I am asking people to bring cupcakes to exchange with one another. It's a Cupcake Exchange. So far I only have 4 people who signed up on that for the Evite.

Due to my severe cold, I didn't run as much as I had planned to. I have decided NOT to run the Carlsbad Marathon on January 23. It's too soon to me to be ready to run that kind of distance. I have only done a few 8-milers in the past month. I really should be up to 16, 17 miles by now. Anyway, the marathon has sold out so I couldn't do it even if I wanted to. Then I could do the Los Angeles Marathon on March 20. Still, it presents a logistical issue in that I would have to find a place to stay in LA or deal with getting a hotel, parking, etc, etc. So... it looks like I will aim for the San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon on June 5 next year. It will give me time to get my ass in gear. Why rush it?

I still debate the logic of running another marathon. I have done 10 so far and have achieved my marathon running goals. At my advanced age, it seems very difficult to get my body in the kind of shape I need to be in order to beat by fastest time of 2:57 (set in 2007). I am at peace with this. I will try to run that fast, but my hamstrings still ache on every run. At least my lower back is not an issue any longer, thanks to a better seat at work. I will see how the next few months go. I am not committing to anything. I will base train, do a few 10, 12 milers until early Feb. That is when I need to decide if I will start a more formalized training program.

This past weekend I worked 2 catering events. I really didn't want to since I had 2 parties of my own I wanted to attend on Saturday night. Still, the logical, money-conscious (CHEAP) Anthony decided he wanted to have some extra money for household purchases. One event was a surprise birthday at the club house of a very expensive housing community in Rancho Santa Fe, a suburban area of San Diego County. I had never really been to that area before. I will never have that much money. The homes were simply amazing, on tops of steep hills. I actually heard coyote howl during the night. The other event was this afternoon at this huge mansion located on the La Jolla Shores cliffs. I only worked about 4 hours. It was a holiday party for the La Jolla Democratic Club.