Photos and cupcakes

After my bullet-style post yesterday, I finally got out for a six miles on Chicago's lakefront. My quads were pretty tired, but after the first mile and a half, they calmed down and shut up. I ran into the wind (gusting to around 30mph) on the way out, but I managed to push through and actually have a half-decent time. Here are my slower-than-usual splits, which I will blame on tired legs and wind, as well as my Garmin's inability to auto-pause in fewer than 12 seconds:

• Mile 1 - 9:58
• Mile 2 - 9:49
• Mile 3 - 9:46
• Mile 4 - 9:36
• Mile 5 - 9:26
• Mile 6 - 9:38 (Garmin, why didn't you pause at the stoplight?!?)
• Total - 58:19

I feel guilty saying that this was "slower than normal" because just a few months ago, that was my fast speed. I'm not sure what prompted my sudden increase in speed. Therefore, I'm going to attribute it to 1) having a Garmin and being able to accurately time myself and 2) being neurotic and competitive with myself.

Jordan and Maria also went for runs on Saturday morning. Maria and I both have awesome Nike capri tights. Also, this picture makes me look like I have a deceptively juicy bum:

After the run, Jordan, Maria, the boyfriend, and I hit up our favorite Swedish breakfast joint, Ann Sather's. (Okay, it might not be Maria's favorite, but she did enjoy her sweet muffin. Thanks for agreeing to go, Maria!)

The boyfriend loves their cinnamon rolls:



My (delicious) omelet came with two enormous biscuits. I considered saving one for later...after I had already crammed it into my mouth. Too late.


The cold weather of doom was already setting in, so we headed for Premium Outlets outside of Chicago in hopes of finding some good deals. I didn't find a bathing suit, but I did find Lena, who also happened to be scouting out running outfits at Nike. (Hi, Running Buddy!)


I suffered some kind of brain aneurysm at the outlets and purchased a J.Crew argyle sweater in some prep-tastic combination of colors. I think I was partially distracted by the intricate pattern, as well as the fact that I've never fit into an "Extra Small" before. Maybe I'll take a picture of it later...

Jordan and Maria got fancy Nike socks with arch support and left-right markings:

As we headed home, the weather turned quite rainy and brutally windy. Good thing we stopped for McDonalds' milkshakes, fries, and chicken McNuggets (Don't judge, they're delicious!) on the way. Despite the fact that the lake was really choppy and looked indistinguishable from an ocean in a hurricane, we saw this crazy lady going for a run:


While waiting for our homemade pizza to bake, the boyfriend creepily watched the tournament on someone else's large television elsewhere in the apartment building:


I ate grapes and was generally confused:

At 8:30pm, we turned off the lights (and three of Jordan's four computers) to participate in Earth Hour. We lit candles and played Scrabble by candelight.



At some point, the boyfriend and I faced a rather poor selection of letters, so we just started spelling out stereotypical pirate utterances:


Eventually, the evening devolved into Jordan wearing the Threadless bag and pretending to be an executioner.


Then we ate brownie sundaes, because sugar makes things better:


Earth Hour was kind of an overall failure, as evidenced by all the bright lights gleaming from the surrounding high-rise apartment buildings on the lake front. Though we were happy to have participated (unlike Rush Limbaugh who turned on Christmas lights), we were grateful to turn the lights back on. In short, "Boy, it would suck to be a pilgrim!"

This morning, I was greeted with my favorite sky cocaine. I didn't run, but it was my day off anyway.


Instead, we stayed inside and made breakfast. I made banana crumb muffins, with slightly more brown sugar that normal (whoops). They were still good, if not a little more ethnic looking:

Finally, everyone was nice enough (READ: tired of my whining) to go back to Molly's Cupcakes so I could finally eat one. ("I had no idea you'd be so sad!" said the boyfriend.) I forgot my camera, but the boyfriend and I split a peanut butter-Nutella cupcake. Here are pictures from Friday's cupcakes:

The boyfriend's berry cupcake:


Maria's tiramisu cupcake:


Jordan's cinnamon roll cupcake:


Here's another picture from Molly's on Friday. I have a stomach ache, but I'm smiling through the pain:

A big "Thanks!" to Jordan and Maria for hosting us, and I'm very sorry that I broke your tablespoon this morning. They are both fantastic guides to Chicago, and I'm sure they'll take great care of us when we run the Chicago Marathon in the fall, and our legs fall off.


...and the boyfriend loves the cars in their apartment building's garage:


Back to school tomorrow. Boo. I wasn't as productive as I hoped to be.