Seven Things Sunday

I am grateful for…

Promises made which surprise me still.

Our Valentine’s day dinner at Takashi, which features contemporary French-American fare with Japanese influences.  I am particularly grateful for chefs who will and can make a great six-course meal for a vegetarian.

If you love restaurant reviews as much as I do, here you go!

My first ten miler for marathon training - the amazing part?  I can’t believe I can run ten miles at a decent clip, and not be sore the next day.  The two stupid knee ouchies however, need some attending to.

Chocolate from Vosges, forged by the angels themselves.  I’m also grateful for a will-power which allowed me to save them until my weekend long run. :D

Longer and warmer days…so Nigel is loving his walks again.

{Source}

The Disney Land Half Marathon in September is the final race for Disney’s Coast-to-Coast marathon challenge.  It sold out last night. I was heart broken when this happened last year too especially after the Goofy Challenge.

Guess which two crazy kids got into registration in the nick of time? California half marathon in September! ;D

Our post ten miler treat - Big Star Taco!  After hearing from EVERYONE that we needed to eat here, we decided our long run day was perfect.

Two and a half page waiting list to get into the restaurant itself.  Lines out the door.  Is it that good? Oh. My. Goodness.  If G-d ate food, he would want tacos from here. Vegetarians can enjoy the portabella mushrooms or potato tacos, and the latter was my fave!

Hope everyone has a great new week ahead of them!

He Liked it, So He Put a Ring on it

I call it a promise ring even though he says we are too old for promise rings.

John calls it a “making an honest woman out of me ring.”  

I secretly always wanted a promise ring and to wear John’s varsity letter jacket. Even though we met in graduate school. :D

I love love love being John’s girlfriend.  I was a humble girl, living a humble life when I was thrown into the adventure of our courtship.  A promise ring means I will forever be his girlfriend even when I am a wife, and that years later we still have the memories from our first summer love.  

{Please excuse the tired eyes and sweats, we returned late and I wanted to send a picture to my mama and John’s mother.}

The whole thing was sweet and romantic and when John put the ring on my finger, I was in disbelief.  We’ve been having some big conversations about some upcoming adventures in Adult Land and I never, never, NEVER saw this coming.  

John said he has been thinking about this and looking for a perfect ring for a long time (his creativity at measuring was amazing, but sadly, my finger shrunk a bit recently and I will need to resize for safety).

Why a pearl?  I’ve always loved the history and symbolism of pearls.  In Persian history, my name Mehnaz translates to “the moon’s glory.” Ancient cultures believed that the moon could make pearls grow larger, that pearls were celestial tears, and that pearls were dew collected from the moon.  There are even stories about how pearls controlled the current of the oceans!

{On our second date at the Lincoln Park zoo - look at these children!}

I am overwhelmed with gratitude and love for John and I can’t believe how the most unexpected happiness comes into your life.

Bedroom Eyes + Valentine’s Day 5 Miler!

I came home to bedroom eyes.  Well, almost. And yes, this is a common pose.

I had an awesome run today.  It was the first where I didn’t take a Garmin and just ran.  

And I ran a 5 miler in 46:34 (I kept track on my phone with a stop watch.).  I am sooooo close to my goal of a 5 miler in 45 minutes!  I beat my old five mile time today and since I hit a 4 miler in 35:44, my body is totally capable of this, and I just have to get there.

Sometimes when I run, I hum and sing to myself quietly.  Apparently, today I was a less quiet.

As I was singing to myself, “I can’t win, I can’t reign, I will never win this game, without you…withoooouuuut you,” a guy was running next to me, laughed and waved.  I’m not even embarrassed.  Much.

Then he kept up with me on the other side of the street.  Don’t you realize this means we’re racing?  And yes, I fell twice, it is icy out there folks.

I always knew the man of my dreams would be tall, dark, strong, and handsome.  I have to pinch myself because I have the John of my dreams.

I never knew the other man of my dreams would be short, with stubby legs, a paunch, a smoosh nose, and snore a little bit.  

I see lots of people write that Valentine’s day is silly because you are supposed to remind each other of your love every day - well, we do that around here, sometimes a few times a day.

But Valentine’s Day lets you CELEBRATE love - something that you might not be able to do everyday.  And there’s chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne involved.  :D

Lunch was a delicious open-faced sammie - a slice of Ezekiel toast with pine-nut hummus, half an avocado, with a tablespoon of Maple Groves Wasabi-Dijon mustard.  

Off to go home and get ready for tonight!

Yes, I’m Counting Down the Hours Until Valentine’s Day

{Princess Jasmine Valentine!}

I celebrated my first Valentine’s day when I was a little girl and we moved to New York City and to this day, I take the holiday seriously.

My mom didn’t understand how the school celebrated and she bought an expensive gift for my secret boy, and when he opened it in class, everyone, including me, was quite surprised because it didn’t fit the $20 limit.  

Later that night, the boy’s mother drove up to our house and made her son walk up and give me flowers and a bear.  I still remember how red his face was. :D

I miss making the little mailboxes you hung on your desk or locker to collect Valentine’s cards - my favorite were the ones you stuck a little candy on!

I started Valentine’s Day early with a lunch date to meet my boy for lunch. Breakfast was on the go - a skinny vanilla latte in Starbuck’s Valentine’s Day cup.

And a Be Kind Fruit and Nut Delight bar.  I love the Blueberry flavor but this was good too!

I met this handsome guy for lunch at Roti - one of my favorite chains downtown!

I had a lovely mixed greens salad topped with roasted veggies,  Sumac Onions, Mixed Greens, Tomato & Cucumber Salad, Kalamata Olives, Red Cabbage Slaw, Cous Cous - I couldn’t finish it and John helped with that. ;)

I rarely find myself in the Loop (downtown Chicago) since we moved and John loves having lunch with me so one of my Valentine’s day gifts to him is to plan lunch with him once a month!

Here is one my favorite memories from my last Valentine Day - my baby puppy!