On vacation

ahhh... a week off. We celebrated Eid Tuesday. Other than that, I've pretty much done nothing. A little running, a little reading, and too little crafting :) And it's already Thursday! I will try to finish the book I'm currently reading (First Family by Joseph Ellis). I went downtown and had lunch with Bobbi. We always have a good time together. Tomorrow night, it's dinner with Marcia at Wildfire. Here is a picture of me at the Hot Chocolate race on Nov. 6.

Hot Chocolate 15K

I ran the Hot Chocolate 15K race yesterday (Saturday, November 6) and I finished in 1:45, which is 9 minutes faster than last year! So I basically shaved a minute off each mile! It feels so awesome~I've been doing a lot of speed workouts and they must have worked :) Just an indescribable feeling to improve so much. Makes it all worthwhile :) I could feel myself running faster and my Nike iPod app was telling me my speed at each mile. It felt amazing to pass people, even though I wanted to walk around mile 8. But I kept running and had a smile as I crossed the finish line!

Pumpkin patch!

Had a great time at Sonny Acres today. Bobbi, AJ, Kyle and I had a blast. What a gorgeous autumn day!

Autumn weekend

I made some cards this weekend. What a beautiful weekend to be have off :) Going for a long run at the arboretum in the morning. Hot Chocolate 15K Race is 3 weeks away!

Awesome Sunday

Had a great day yesterday! Started off the day with an early morning run with Marcia. I rarely have such a great run, where I felt like I could have kept going. We did 4.39 miles at the (hilly) arboretum in about 55 minutes--a great time for me. Then we got coffee in the cafe and chatted for a bit. My mother and I later went into the city to see Maliha. We had Indian food (yum!) from Shan. We drove past these beautiful flowers and I had to drive around to get a pic with them.
All in all, a wonderful Sunday :)

~Training~

Today's run was only 3 miles... felt sluggish but I made it through! Felt so good to finish instead of quitting ;) 5 on Sunday!

Catching up

I've been reading (Freedom by Jonathan Franzen and Butterfly Mosque by Willow Wilson~ both very good) and I've been busy trying to get back on the exercise wagon. Lost my motivation for a while and it was hard to make myself workout after a long day, so I didn't. BUT! Starting this week, I've been really good :) Marcia and I ran a 5k at the Morton Arboretum and finished in 33:07, which is great for me, especially with a hilly course.
Now it's time to get serious about the Hot Chocolate 15K on Nov. 6th! Nothing like a race to motivate me!

End of Ramadan

Can't believe Ramadan is almost over. Always seems so long and daunting at the beginning, yet it goes by so fast. Hopefully, I can continue to get up early for morning prayers.

CYPD

Author Jack Gantos signing books after his awesome speech!


My name badge :)


Spent the weekend at the CYPD conference in Indianapolis. Also got some scrapping done :)

CYPD

I'm getting ready to give a presentation this weekend at the conference for the Childrens and Young Persons Division of the Indiana Library Federation. It's about doing eco programs for youth and teens. Hope I'm ready! It will be my first trip to Indianapolis, and the 4th state capital I've been to. Definitely taking my camera!

postings

Hoping to post more frequently... I know, I keep thinking/saying/writing that. New happenings: turned 34, got an iPhone 4, Ramadan started. Pictures to follow soon.

Scrapping!

I've been scrapping! One page about Bobbi, one for my old car, one for my new car :) Still have more pics to scrap...

Lyle Lovett at the Morton Arboretum

Marcia and I went to see Lyle Lovett on Friday, Aug. 6 at the Morton Arboretum. It was part of their summer concert series and it was wonderful--listening to music under the stars, surrounded by nature's beauty.

It's almost the weekend!

Been a long week... too long. STILL IN LOVE WITH THE CAR!!! It's amazing how many broken things I had gotten used to in my 13 year old car. I think I used the radio in my old car to cover up its noisiness... but now I actually like the quiet. :)
Weekend plans: Running @ the arboretum. Gotta make some cards this weekend at some point. Laundry. Dinner with friends... anything else?

Exciting weekend!

My 13 year old honda civic died Friday night. I knew it was coming, but thankfully I had a 3 day weekend and I had been saving up for a down payment. After a weekend of test driving, I bought another civic; this time it's blue. I'm excited! It will be nice to drive without worrying about every sound and waking up the neighbors with my old car. And I have air conditioning! :) Many thanks to Bobbi and Maliha for all your help.
Also did the Women's 10K race yesterday at Montrose Harbor. I was hoping for a better time, but it was the same as last year. I guess I can't complain; I hadn't been sleeping well the past week or so.
Time to go clean out my old car!

Getting for my next race

Race day is Sunday. It's a 10K. My dream is to be able to finish in 1 hour, but I don't think it's going to happen. I ran for 45 minutes yesterday, and I hope to run 6-7 miles tomorrow morning before work at the Morton Arboretum. I've really been trying to work on speed lately. My newest trick is to go faster when a fast song is on my iPod, then go back to my normal speed. Hopefully, it will help me on race day.

crafty weekend

Been a rough week (and it's only Wednesday). Here are some pics from my crafty weekend. I made some cards and magnets. Here's to a successful craft fair in Westmont!

...weekend...

Getting ready to (finally!) craft this weekend!

Cable at the gym

YAY! Cable is back at the gym! The machines at the gym stopped getting cable a couple of months ago and it's been hard to stay motivated while watching regular tv. And then... today, I saw cable channels were available! Makes the time go so much faster while I'm on the treadmill :) And, thanks to the blond woman on the machine next to me. I wanted to stop after 9 minutes, but she made me push for 30 hard minutes.

Summer day at the park

Bobbi and I had a great time at a park in Westmont. Lovely flowers, too!

...weekend...

Ready for a looooong weekend! Woo-hoo! Planning on catching up with friends and taking some great photos.

Wonderful evening

I had dinner with an old friend tonight after a long week. We went for Indian food, but the service was terrible so we skipped dessert and went to Starbucks and enjoyed chai tea lattes and a scone. Great food and lots of laughter. Now it's time for bed~have to work tomorrow!

It's the weekend!

I'm ready for the weekend--finally! Hoping to go to Printer's Row Lit Fest in Chicago tomorrow, but I'm not sure if the rain will stay away. Otherwise, lots of crafting and/or reading to be done...

Plans for tonight

Feeling virtuous (and tired) since I've been working out every morning before work this week. I started bootcamp this week and I am keeping up with my running, too. Debating whether to scrap or read tonight. I'm in the middle of The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman and it's very well written.

Strawberries

Lovely strawberries! A sign of summer... yum...

My first post!

This is my first blog and first post. I hope to use this forum to write about things I'm passionate about... crafting, reading, running, museum visits, and other random things.