Vodka, pizza, and bears, oh my!

Time for another Adventures post!

OddFellows
On Friday night, my friends Jenny, Chris, and I went to a new bar in the Short North called “Oddfellows“.  For you Cbus-ers, Oddfellows is owned by the creator of Mikey’s Late Night Slice, so we knew at the very least it was going to be unique.  And it did not disappoint!  One look at their Facebook page tells you that Oddfellows is not your typical Short North bar.  It prides itself on being a “Shitty Bar in the Short North”, and it mostly lives up to that tagline.  For one, it smells a little like sewage, but not in a bad way – just in a “we are a dive bar” kind of way.  The decor reminds me of Betty’s (may she rest in peace), with its absurdly goofy and random charm.  And the fancy cocktails are just $7 each – mine consisted of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, vodka, elderflower, and a salted rim.  Major yum.  I’m not sure that a place that lists “add cold-pressed juice to any cocktail for $3” on their drink menu can really be considered “shitty”, but I’ll give them props for trying.

And the best part?  Bacon Peanut Brittle!  Replace the standard peanuts in peanut brittle with bacon, add some nutella-mousse dipping sauce, and you’ve got a very unique bar treat.

Harvest Pizza
Don’t you hate when you purposely save part of your meal at a restaurant so you can enjoy it a second time as leftovers, only to discover you forgot your doggie bag at the restaurant?  That happened to me on Thursday night, and I’ve been craving more pizza ever since.  So yesterday afternoon I dragged Karen to the new Harvest Pizza in Clintonville (she’s a great dining partner).  I’ve dined at their German Village location and was excited to check out their new digs.  Although their Clintonville menu is expanded to include sandwiches and burgers, I had pizza on the brain.  And with a pizza-and-salad lunch special, I couldn’t go wrong!

I started with the Kale Caesar salad, which is what it sounds like.  Now, I like kale, but I’m not one of the kale-obsessed.  But let me tell you, this salad is GOOD.  Karen opted for the Butterhead, which had one major selling point – Cheese Curds!  Both were excellent.

As for the pizza, I ordered my stand-by, the Spicy Yuma, which had chorizo, peppers, jalapenos, and corn, as well as a spicy tomato sauce.  It was tasty as always.  I ate all but two slices, and this time I did not forget the leftovers (which were consumed that same day as a lateish-night snack).  Karen got the mushroom.  We traded slices, and while I’m not a fan of cooked mushrooms, the truffle oil more than made up for it.  #foodtrend

The only thing better than having fancy pizza and salads for lunch?  Having fancy pizza and salads for lunch for just $9!  Check out our super cheap bill -I think we might have to start venturing from our beloved Northstar Cafe more often…

Polar Bears!
Last night, my company hosted its annual summer family outing at the Columbus Zoo!

My friends Jackie, Ashley, and Johnny accompanied me, and we met up with Matt (who also works at MT) and his partner Tim.  We had a fantastic time wandering about, getting thisclose to kangaroos and watching baby bonobos act like humans.  My company even had a private viewing of the new Heart of Africa exhibit, but unfortunately, we missed the giraffes as it was apparently past their bedtime.

Full disclosure – part of the reason we missed the giraffes is because I reallllly wanted to see the polar bears!  #looklikebigcats.  So. Freaking. Cute!

Thanks, MT, for a great night!  As a side note, Jackie is officially “Jackie Hanna”, as she spent THREE DAYS IN A ROW at the zoo!  First with her family, then with us last night, and today with some friends who were in town!  She should have just spent the night with the chimps.

Supper
And finally, my Sunday night “supper”!   As I discussed in this post, mac & cheese and meatballs are two of my go-to meals.  I was out of meatballs, so I whipped up a batch of them to freeze and use later on.  I usually put chicken sausage in my fancy mac & cheese, but since I was making meatballs I threw some of them in the pot instead!  But the real reason I’m sharing this dinner is because of a trick I read on one of my favorite blogs, Healthy Tipping Point.  Instead of mixing the cheese packet with boring-old milk (even worse if all you have is skim, like I do), mix the cheese packet with ~1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt (I added a splash of milk too).  It makes the mac extra-creamy and the greek yogurt adds a slight tang that makes it much more satisfying than standard mac & cheese.  And just like I discussed in this post, I packed up the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  2 for 1!

What adventures did you have this weekend?!

Yes, folks, it’s that time again – the third part in my many-part series devoted to online dating!  But before we get going, I want to share one photo from this past weekend (side note:  blog + no makeup = scary).  My best friend from high school, Allison, and her husband Enrique and two-and-a-half year-old daughter Mirah visited from DC.  We did what Allison and I do best – very little!  Mirah takes after her Mom and is the most low-key, good-natured toddler on the planet, and was a joy to be around.  Just like I talked about in this post, friendship takes effort – and my friendship with Allison is no exception.  xoxo!

OK – now back to that online dating thing.  In case you missed it, in Part I I discussed the online dating market, summarized in the chart below:

 

In Part II, I began a thorough analysis of each dating site, starting with the one I’ve used most recently, Tinder.  Part III is dedicated to the top left portion of the Dating Site Map – OKCupid!

I first heard about OKCupid (OKC) in the fall of 2012 from my friend Pratt’s younger sister, Teresa.  Teresa had recently moved from Brooklyn to San Francisco, and as a young single woman she was an excellent source for dating advice (still is!).  She encouraged me to check out this new dating site called OKC that was all the rage on the East and West Coasts (match.com was sooo last year).  Not one to shy away from new opportunities to meet my husband, I signed up right away.

The first thing I noticed about OKC was that it was FREE.  Having previously been a paying member of both JDate and Match.com, this was refreshing.  The next thing I noticed was less obvious.  Like the dating sites before it, OKC has personal profiles, complete with photos and a series of questions.  What makes it stand out from the crowd is its “tone”.  I distinctly remember thinking, “now THIS dating site gets it!”.  For example, rather than ask the standard, “what do you like to do” questions, OKC digs a little deeper, with questions like, “the six things I could never do without”, and “I’m really good at…”.  Clever questions like these make the dreaded process of completing an online dating profile actually fun – or at the very least, less painful.

But what really makes OKC different from the rest of the market (as I’ve experienced it) is their matching process. Apparently Match.com thinks that “you both enjoy basketball” and “he likes to go out to restaurants too” are the building blocks of a successful relationship.  On the contrary, OKC knows that it takes more than a mutual interest in bowling to make a match.  Instead, they peel off a few more layers by asking a lengthy series of questions with straightforward answers.  They also ask what answers you’ll “accept” in a match, and how important the question is to you.

For example, there are serious questions like this one:

And silly but fun questions like this one:

There are hundreds of questions, and no, you don’t have to answer all of them.  But the more you do, the more OKC will get to know you, and the better they’ll be able to “match” you with your perfect mate.  Now, of course, everyone knows there is more to compatibility than whether or not you believe that “Passion is more important in a relationship than dedication” or “I like horror movies”.  But these questions give you an insight into the other person that is nearly impossible to get on more traditional dating sites.  And just like with the clever profile questions, these matching questions make the online dating process a little more fun.

OKC has all the ingredients of a successful online dating site—it’s free, it’s quirky, and the match questions are entertaining and insightful.  Should be a winner, right?  Wrong.  Despite all of its unique qualities, OKC seems to attract less-than-desirable singles – and lots of them.  Of course, that’s not true across the board – after all, I’m at least moderately desirable and I’m on the site.  But from my experience, the men (and I’m sure many of the women) are just a bunch of losers / douchebags / weirdos ….not my type.  Need some proof?  Check out these characters:

And as luck would have it, men just like the ones above come flocking in droves on OKC.  When I first joined, I was shocked at the number of emails I received daily.  On Match, I would spend hours writing up clever emails, only to receive little to no response.  But on OKC, I received multiple emails every day with little to no effort on my part.  But I soon came to see that quantity does not equal quality (see above graph).  Sure, I was receiving emails, but they contained little to no content – things like, “Hey beautiful” and “How are you” don’t exactly make me want to respond, especially after reading a boring and/or sparse profile.  Someone who takes the time to comment on something in my profile is far more likely to catch my attention, and that rarely happens on OKC.  Need proof?  Here is a just a small snapshot of my messages:

You may be reading this thinking, “she sounds awfully picky”, but take my word for it when I say that I’m just being smart.  It’s easy to spot these guys in person, but it’s trickier to spot them online – which is why you have to be extra diligent.  If a guy seems like a jerk in his profile or his one-word email, he probably is.  Now, it wouldn’t be fair of me not to mention that I have been on a few dates with people I met on OKC.  A couple of guys were normal, one was not but I ended up dating him for a bit before realizing that.  Not all guys (and gals) on OKC are lame – just most of them.

The question remains, if OKC is so bad, why am I still on it?  The answer is simple – why not?  It’s free, highly entertaining (see above examples), harmless, and you never know – perhaps a great guy will stumble across my profile and send me an email with more content than “hey hot stuff”.  Highly unlikely, but hey – I’m an optimist!

Have you tried OKC?  OK, or not so OK?

 

 

“It happens when you least expect it”

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that phrase, I’d be dressed in lululemon from head-to-toe.  More specifically, every time I’ve heard that phrase come from a happily coupled person.  Once, my friend Cullen and I even found the phrase on the inside lid of a snack-sized raisin box.  It seems even grapes have advice for single people.

I know those couply people and grapes mean well.  They simply want to give us single people hope that one day, when we’re busy going about the business of living our lives and not looking for Mr. or Mrs. Right, we’ll stumble across he or she and the rest will be history. The problem with this notion is that if you are single long enough and of a certain age, it becomes almost impossible to stop looking – to stop expecting.

Throughout each stage of life there are expectations that we have for ourselves and that others have of us.  We expect, and are expected, to graduate from high school, go to college, choose a major, graduate from college, and start a successful career.  We expect, and are expected, to date a little, fall in love, get married, and have children.  We expect, and are expected, to raise well-rounded, intelligent, smart, “perfect” children, stay in love with the same person forever, and live a happy life.  On top of it, we expect, and are expected, to do all those things in order, and on a certain timeline.  College graduate by 23, married homeowner by 30, parent by 32, grandparent by 62.

In short, we expect, and are expected, a lot.

Where do these expectations come from?  Some, like marriage and starting a family, are long ingrained in society.  Others, like the role the woman in the household, are changing with generations.  And still others come entirely from within.  These expectations are reinforced by our environment – every movie, every book, every song, every TV show shapes our expectations.  At some point, these external examples become the mantra for our own lives – what our lives “should” look like.

It’s no wonder that all of these expectations might leave us feeling less than adequate at times.  What if, god forbid, you don’t meet them?  When everyone and everything around you appear to be meeting expectations, it’s hard not to feel vulnerable.  This brings to mind a particular Sex and the City episode in which Miranda and Carrie attend a party where they find themselves “the only single people in the room”.  When asked about her dating life, Miranda laughs it off rather than admit that what she really fears is that “maybe there isn’t someone out there for everyone”.

Now I know that Sex and the City is not real life, but it comes darn close to it.   I, for one, have had many experiences in which I feel like the only single person in the room, the weight of the expectation to find “the one” weighing heavily on my shoulders.  Some might say that expectation is mostly from within – that I put more pressure on myself than others do.  And that might be true.  But how can I not have that expectation for myself, when everyone and everything around me tells me to expect it?  Every song I listen to, every book I read, every TV show I watch tells me to expect love.  Heck, even my manicurist asked me if I had a boyfriend, and when I told her no, she said, “well you’ve had other boyfriends, right?” – just to make sure I wasn’t too weird.

It’s worth noting that I know these expectations aren’t limited to us single folk.  There are expectations to get engaged, expectations to set a wedding date, expectations to have children.  There are expectations to buy a nice house in a nice neighborhood, to send your kids to the best school, enroll them in the right activities.  Expectations aren’t limited to one stage of life – they are a recurring evil.

Part of the reason I started O-HI-30 was to take some of the focus off these major life expectations.  I’m learning to worry less about the future and what is “missing” from life in favor of focusing on the present and all that I do have.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t have expectations.  Do I expect to meet Mr. Right tomorrow?  No – but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to, or trying to.

And you know what?  It might happen just when I’m expecting it.  And if it does, you better believe I’ll be setting the record straight!

 

Yesterday, I completed my first Olympic Triathlon.

And it was hard.
Very hard.

But then again, why am I so surprised?  After all, I did swim 1500 meters (~1 mile), bike 40 kilometers (~25 miles), and run 10+ kilometers (6.75 miles) in 3:25:18!

But let’s back up a bit.  It all started last week, when I began freaking out about the weather.  Every meteorologist and website was predicting thunderstorms starting Saturday night and into Sunday.  Not Good.  I envisioned various scenarios, from delays to cancelling the swim to cancelling the entire event.  I briefly allowed myself to envision a scenario in which, by some miracle, it didn’t rain.  But suffice to say that between the highly uncertain forecast and the sheer enormity of the physical trial ahead of me, I was a bundle of nerves.

Luckily I had many supportive family members and friends to distract me Friday and Saturday.  My cousin Atlee drove down from that school up north on Friday night, and my brother and his girlfriend Aisling started the first leg of their month-long cross country journey by driving from NYC to C-bus on Saturday.  And of course my ever-supportive parents drove down from Cleveland to join Karen for the festivities.  After dropping off my transition gear at both T2 and T1 (where it started POURING rain just as I was racking my bike), we all headed out to dinner so I (we) could carb-load and enjoy some quality time together (while I sneaked peeks at the radar on my phone).  Aisling and I spilt pasta and pizza – the ultimate carb-loading adventure:

I slept fairly well that night, despite the fact that I continued to sneak peeks at the radar every time I woke.  When my alarm went off at 4:50 and I saw no rain, I finally started getting excited.  I was going to do an Olympic triathlon!  I met my parents and Karen at the swim start at 6:15 AM – big thanks to them for keeping me company for the 75 minutes until I made my first stroke.  And by some miracle, not only was it not raining, but the sky looked like this as I waited for 7:30 to come around:

And come around it did!  The swim came and went – I remember thinking “holy shit, this is long”, but before I knew it I was rounding the bend to the last leg (it was an out-and-back course).  It was pleasantly not crowded.   At one point I found myself in the middle of the course with no one around me – I panicked and thought I was going to get disqualified – but I quickly swam back to the pack and continued on.  And 34 minutes later, I ran onto the beach to the transition area!  I was noticeably more out of breath than my previous (shorter) triathlons, but otherwise I felt good.  I toweled off, put on my socks and shoes and the rest of my gear, and was off in 3:26.

I was by far the most nervous about the bike.  As you know, I fell off my bike exactly four weeks prior to yesterday, and that caused me to be an even more timid biker than I already am.  My confidence was boosted by the fact that it wasn’t raining and the nice tailwind that had me riding ~17+ mph for the first 5-10 miles of the course.  There were some hills, but they were fairly minor and for the most part, the course was a series of straightaways = very happy Sarah.  I was still very nervous at every turn and slowed down far too much (I’m sure the bikers behind me were annoyed).  The last five miles of the course were the hardest.  In part because it was the last five miles of the course, but also because there was a strong headwind pushing against us.  The sky took a turn and I kept saying “please don’t thunderstorm” to myself over and over – which appeared to have worked because the rain held off.  The bike finish came up quickly and I happily dismounted my bike.  I knew I had done well (for me) – I was hoping to complete the bike in under 1 hour 45 minutes, and my time of 1:33:24 fit the bill.  16 MPH?  I’ll take it!  I was passed about 1000 times and only passed two other riders, but I was out there for myself – and I did myself proud.

At the bike-to-run transition I saw my family (with my bro and his gf and my cousin).  I was happy to be off the bike and on to what I thought was my second-best event, and seeing them gave me a boost.  It was then that something very unpleasant occurred (warning – overshare ahead).  I REALLY had to pee, so I handed a race volunteer my iphone and ran into a porta potty.  Since I was wearing a one-piece tri suit and a race belt around my waist, I decided that I didnt’ want to bother with trying to strip it off – I could just pee with it on, like a bathing suit.  What I didn’t realize until much later was that my suit is not a normal suit – it has a nice layer of padding for protection on the saddle.  So…do the math…the pee had no where to go except sideways.  It went ALL OVER my legs, into my socks and shoes, on the floor of the nasty porta potty, even onto the sidewalk!  Basically everywhere except where it was supposed to go.  I debated stopping midway and taking off my suit, but I was wearing my race belt and it is not easy to take off the suit…and since i had already started I figured I might as well just pee my pants.  So pee my pants I did.

As luck would have it, my dear friends Jackie and Matt were waiting for me outside the porta potties and captured my disgust as I exited.  Despite being drenched in my own urine, I was thrilled to see them – there is something special about the support of friends.

That’s when things started going downhill.  The run was HARD.  In past triathlons I rocked the run, even setting a personal 5K record in my second triathlon.  I went into this one thinking that the same thing would happen – my legs would feel weird and I would just RUN.  What I failed to consider was the fact that the swim and the bike were twice as long, so by the time I started running I was 2+ hours in.  I also wasn’t properly trained – I didn’t take the run seriously enough and had only run 6 miles once before the race.  And in the most ironic of ways, the sun decided to come out – adding to the brutal humidity. Or maybe it wasn’t any of that, and perhaps I can blame it on the shame of having peed my pants.  Whatever the reason, the run was very challenging.  Every. Single. Step. Hurt.  Thank goodness for my music (“Call Me Maybe”!).  I also took some walk breaks – something I almost never do in training or races – but this race demanded it.

Finally, after what felt like forever – I saw the finish line.  I forced a smile on my face, saw my family, and sprinted to the finish.  After 3 hours, 25 minutes, and 18 seconds, I was an Olympic Triathlete!

And then this happened:

I have never been happier to be done with a race in my life.  My back was killing me and I needed a place to sit against something immediately.  After a few minutes I gathered my composure and began the somewhat arduous process of collecting my T1 & T2 stuff.  Eventually we headed back to Karen’s and I took an amazing shower – but not without taking a group shot first (my Dad took the photo):

I didn’t have a complete appetite, but I managed to eat a full plate of this amazing spread that my Mom and Karen put together.  It tasted fabulous, and I know the spectators appreciated it too – cheering is hard work!  My Aunt and Uncle joined us for the celebration as well – it was quite the full house!

After lunch, everyone packed up and went on their way (D and Aisling began their month of adventure, lucky them!). And just like that, it was over.  The Olympic Triathlon that I’d been thinking about for months and obsessing about for weeks was over.  And rain-free!  I didn’t experience the rush of endorphins as I did in previous sprint triathlons – instead, I actually felt very little.  It was just – over.  To be honest, it wasn’t exactly “fun”.  Sprint triathlons are half the distance and twice as fun!  But today I feel differently – delayed reaction, perhaps?  The significance of what I accomplished yesterday has started to sink in – and I’m really proud of myself!  I’m also humbled by my body.  I know firsthand how fleeting physical health can be, and every single day I am able to swim, bike, and run is a day for which I am grateful.

I am also thankful for everyone’s support – I know that so many of you were thinking of me Sunday morning, checking the radar and cheering me on from your cozy beds!  Your encouragement and investment is greatly appreciated.   I may have run a lot slower than expected, but I felt strong on the swim and exceeded my expectations on the bike.  And even though I placed in the bottom 25% overall, I’m inspired and in awe by all the athletes that I racked my bike next to and those that began their second run lap while I was running my first (the half Ironman athletes ran a half-marathon – after swimming 1.2 miles and biking 56!).  And in the end, I’m really proud of myself.  Because I raced this race for one person and one person only – me.

Only one question remains – which Olympic Triathlon am I doing next summer?!

I’ve been obsessing thinking about my upcoming triathlon a lot this week.  There is rain in the forecast – specifically, “scattered thunderstorms,” the chance of rain is 40% all weekend, and my weatherman keeps saying unhelpful things like, “rain Sunday”.  WHEN on Sunday?  If it’s after 11 AM, I don’t care (well, I sort of do – we are having a cookout in the afternoon – plus, I feel bad for all those competing in the Half Ironman!).  What if it’s thunderstorming and they have to cancel the race?  Or what if it’s pouring rain but the race still goes on, and I have to bike in it (recall that I slipped on some mud and fell four weeks ago).  Plus, I have a large cheering section and they deserve to be dry during the 3+ hours it will take me to swim 0.9 miles, bike 25, and run 6.55.

Alas, as much as I’d like to control the weather (that would be one of my three wishes for a genie), I can’t.  So instead, I’ll try to shift my focus to things that I can control.  Starting with all the stuff that is required to race a triathlon.  Since I’m officially a triathlete, I will refer to that stuff as “gear”.  Before my first triathlon two summers ago, the aspect of the race that eluded me most was all the gear needed just to complete the event.  I’d previously completed three half-marathons, and those are simple (besides the running 13.1 miles, of course):  clothes, running shoes, maybe a watch and you’re hitting the pavement.  Triathlons, on the other hand, are MUCH more complicated.  After all, you’re swimming, then biking, THEN running.  And if you’re doing a point-to-point course like I am on Sunday, the start / swim-to-bike transition (T1) and bike-to-run transition (T2) / finish are in two different places, further complicating things.

Despite having three triathlons under my belt, I still find myself creating a new list of gear as I prep for each race.  This time, I got smart and created the following excel table outlining everything I need to succeed:

Pretty crazy, huh?  That’s a lot of sh*t for one race.  For those of you who are visual learners, a lot of sh*t looks like this:

And my bike:

Not exactly a fancy road bike that weighs next-to-nothing, but she’s been good to me.  She’s light-ish and comfortable, which is important for my 80-year-old back.  (pretty sweet kickstand, huh?).  #notaprofessional

As for my race fuel, I’ll be packing three of these dates stuffed with peanut butter and sprinkled with a little sea salt, a tip I got from this post from one of my favorite bloggers.  I plan to eat them on the bike.  Ignore the “best buy” date.  Oops.

So there you have it!  A crash-course in triathlon gear.  I’ve got some special family members coming to town on Friday and Saturday, so I’m really looking forward to an exciting and busy weekend.  Hopefully I can channel this nervous energy into race energy come Sunday morning!

Back with a full report early next week (can’t promise I’m going to be able to do anything more than watch The Good Wife on Sunday evening).  Thanks for your support!

 

I spent this past weekend at Ashley’s cottage in Michigan with six of our dearest friends from college.

Since graduating in 2006 (’07 for some of us!), us girls have taken a “girl’s trip” at least once a year.  Ash, Pratt, Shep, Nash (left to right) and I lived in the dorm together freshman year at Ohio State (B-3 baby!), and have been the best of friends ever since.  We happily picked up Caitlin and Jackie along the way (left and right of me, respectively), as well as Pam and Stacy (we missed you!).

Talking to others, it’s become apparent just how fortunate and rare it is to maintain such close friendships throughout the years.  Many people aren’t so lucky to meet such wonderful friends on their dorm room floor, and even if you manage to leave college with a tight knit group of friends, it is tough to endure the test of time.  People move, keeping in touch becomes harder, schedules fill up, some have babies while others remain single.  Things just…change.

But I’ve never been one to let life just happen to me.  On the contrary, the O-HI-30 life is about grabbing life by the balls and making the most of what you have.  And just like most worthwhile things, friendship takes work.  These great friendships didn’t remain in tact simply by chance – they are a product of real, meaningful effort on all of our parts.  Despite all the moving, post-graduate degrees, relationships, marriages, and four-legged friends, we’ve managed to stay as close as we were sitting on the dorm room floor of Bradley 319, eating Shep’s Mom’s queso dip and gossping about boys.

The annual girls trip takes a different form each year.  We’ve done Vegas twice (once for fun, once for Pratt’s Bachelorette Party – that was interesting), rented a cabin at Hocking Hills, bet on horses at Keeneland (Ash’s Bach party), took pole-dancing lessons in Pittsburgh (Cait’s Bach party), and, most recently, partied it up in South Beach.  This year, we decided to keep things low-key (and affordable) and drive to Ash’s parent’s lake house – or “cottage” as they call it – in Southern Michigan.  I’ve been fortunate to be a guest at the cottage many many times over the years, and it never disappoints.

We didn’t know it at the time, but selecting the cottage as the location of Girl’s Trip 2014 ended up being the perfect choice.  Why?  Because Pratt is now seven months pregnant!  Miami and Pregnancy do not go together, but Cottage and Pregnancy most definitely do.  Pratt is the first of the original dorm crew to start a family (Stac has a beautiful baby girl), and we were so excited to spend some time with her before her family of three (her husband Tony and Crosby, the dog) becomes a family of four this September!

Ash’s Mom had the brilliant idea of throwing Pratt a suprise baby shower.  And suprise her, we did!  When Pratt saw the sign for a “baby shower” on the door, she said, “Oh, a baby shower” before realizing a moment later that that shower was for her!

Shep came up with two fun games for us to play:  Match the Celebrity to their Baby’s Name, and The Price is Right.  I was AWFUL at the celebrity game (as in, I got 2/20 right, one was a pure guess and the other I cheated off Nash), but I proved myself as a savvy shopper by tying for the win with Jackie in The Price as Right.

When we weren’t showering Pratt with homemade baby food kits and adorable onesies, we were drinking wine (even the mama-to-be enjoyed a few sips – just a few!), laughing about boys from years past and teasing each other mercilessly, and eating.  Lots of eating.  There is never a shortage of excellent food at the cottage, and Ash’s Mom’s baked beans remain the star of the show for me, year after year.  This was Saturday night’s spread, consumed at 10 PM since lunch was consumed at 3:30 PM.  Ah, lake life.

I was very sad to see the weekend come to an end.  Less than 48 hours is simply not long enough to spend with your best girlfriends from college.  No matter how long the trip, it never seems long enough, and this one felt particularly short.  But the one thing I can say with 100% certainty is that there will be a 2015 girl’s trip.  It may look different, and it may involve a baby (!), but it will happen in some shape or form.  And the same can be said for 2016 and 2017…and 2034.

Until then, ladies!

A few weeks ago over Pad Thai and Tofu Curry, my dear friend Ash was complaining about the dire state of her packed lunches.  Dr. Ash works long, busy shifts as a Primary Care physician and doesn’t have the luxury of taking a leisurely hour lunch.  If she wants to eat lunch (and duh, who skips meals?!), then she has to bring it with her.  Day after day, she eats a salad so boring it brings her to tears, and night after night, she stares into her fridge and begrudgingly makes the next day’s boring salad.

Perhaps one of the most dreadful aspects of working a 9-5 (ok, 8-6) job is the packed lunch.  Let’s face it:  there is nothing more boring than eating the same turkey sandwich and carrots day after day.  Even more dreadful is the act of assembling that packed lunch.  Ziploc baggies, plastic containers, aluminum foil – it’s enough to turn away even the most passionate of cooks.

But before you say “the hell with it” and pay $10 for an overpriced and lackluster Panera You-Pick-Two lunch or, in the case of Dr. Ash and her non-existent lunch hour, starve, hear me out:  there IS life outside of the boring brown bag (BBB) lunch!

For two of the 2.5 years I was in grad school, I packed both my lunch (for work) and dinner (for class) religiously.  I didn’t have time to pick up food on my way to class – it was stressful enough just getting there on time.  And while I did go out for lunch a day or two a week, it still added up to packing multiple meals a week.  I eventually wised up and realized that if I left work a mere ten minutes before five, I’d have time not only to pick up takeout for dinner, but also have a drink with my classmates before class got underway at six (which, while fun at the time, makes for a long lecture).  But in those first two years of school, I became an expert on the packed lunch (and dinner).  So how did I manage to stay (mostly) out of a food rut?  By thinking outside of the BBB!

Leftovers
My #1 suggestion for getting out of the BBB rut?  Turn the heat up!  Most people have access to a microwave at lunch – use it!  Rather than cooking one meal for dinner and another for lunch, keep it simple and make an extra serving or two of dinner.  Since I live alone, that’s easy for me – I just make two (or three or four) servings of whatever I’m making.  Then I pack up the leftovers and eat them as lunches or quick dinners throughout the week.  You might think that sounds boring, but if the meal was good I guarantee you’ll be happy to eat it again.

For example, on Sunday night I used the giant zucchini from this post in spaghetti and meatballs.  You’ve seen from this post that I always have homemade frozen meatballs on hand, so I simply heated them up in some jarred sauce, sauteed the zucchini strips with some garlic & onions, and added some spaghetti.  The zucchini added some bulk so I didn’t need a ton of pasta to make two big servings.  Secret:  add some capers and kalamata olives to your sauce, as well as some red pepper flakes – takes it to a whole new level!

 

I wanted some extra veg, so I served the pasta with a simple salad of greens, pre-shredded carrots (worth the extra $), grape tomatoes, and green onion.  One salad and one pasta (and parm cheese!) went into plastic containers for lunch the next day:

So next time you make dinner, make lunch too!  Most things reheat well – pasta, enchiladas, stir-fry, even eggs, like this frittata that I made last month and ate for four meals!

Non-Lettuce Salads
Dr. Ash told me that she eats salads for lunch because she feels like it’s the only good way to consume veggies.  The key to staying out of a salad rut is to expand your horizons.  Who says that the only way to eat a salad is with a lettuce base?  I challenge you to think outside the bagged pre-washed greens.  Things like beans, lentils, and quiona (although i don’t care for it) all make great bases for veggies, cheese, nuts, and dressing.  Or if you want to stay light, try some broccoli slaw instead of lettuce.  It’s crunchy and different – I like mine with some canned tuna, corn, tomatoes, blue cheese, and TJ’s cliantro dressing.  And in the case you do make a lettuce salad – for goodness sake, make it interesting!  The one below is from a school night, and includes some fabulous baked tofu (I heart tofu), homemade croutons, and fancy cheese in addition to lots of veggies.  Boring?  I think not!

 

Un-Boring Sandwiches
It’s worth noting that I don’t consider all sandwiches to fall in the “BBB” category.  On the contrary, I pack a turkey sandwich for work almost every week.  The key is to make it “fancy” – I spread avocado and special mustard on mine, add a slice of pepperjack, and make sure the bread it high-quality.  None of that bread aisle crap – buy bread from the bakery section of the grocery store, or better yet, a real bakery.  Or use a bun or chibatta roll or pita pocket.  Serve your un-boring sandwich with a few of your fav crunchy snack (TJ’s roasted veggie chips or Utz pretzels for me) and some of those baby peppers and carrots and you’ve got a meal.

Soup
I love making giant pots of soup.  It’s the antithesis to baking – you don’t have to measure anything, you can add whatever, omit whatever.  As soon as the first cool breeze hits (but not this July one), you can find me over a giant pot on the stove.  My favorites are my Great Aunt’s chili and old-fashioned veg soup (think lima beans and barley).  When I make soup, I make a giant pot and ladle it into plastic containers that I then freeze and eat throughout the fall and winter – and spring and summer.  In fact, tonight I defrosted my very last container of soup:  some white bean, pasta, and kale concoction I made this past winter.  I could have just as easily taken it to work and served it with some cheese and crackers.  The lesson here?  Soup = lots of at-the-ready meals.

 

Snack Plates
What is a snack plate, you ask?  When I’m really feeling lazy and don’t feel like making a sandwich, I’ll stick the components of one in a plastic container.  Think turkey, sliced cheese, avocado, mustard.  I’ll bring sides of carrots/cucumbers/peppers for dipping in some hummus and some crackers, too.  It’s fun to eat and is much more filling than you’d expect.

So there you have it – five ways to get out of your BBB rut!   You’ll make your belly happy and your co-workers jealous at the same time.

What are your favorite un-BBB lunches?

Time for another Adventures post!

The Crest
On Wednesday evening, Karen and I went to a relatively new restaurant in Clintonville called The Crest.  The Crest is a gastropub.  What is a gastropub, you ask?  Good question.  But they’ve been popping up everywhere, and I, for one, am happy about it.  The O-HI-30 definition of a gastropub is “elevated American / bar food” – think burgers, FRIES, interesting salads, bacon wrapped dates – that kind of thing.  And oh, yea, really good craft beer, wine, and some fancy overpriced cocktails.  Basically – my ideal kind of restaurant.  I’ve dined at The Crest just once before, on a cold rainy Sunday night when I was 120% stressed about school.  I enjoyed it then, but this time – I was in love.

One of the downsides of The Crest is their no reservation policy.  No reservations + popularity = 45+ min wait on a Wednesday night.  By the time we were seated, we were starving and quickly put in an order for two draft beers (some Fat Head pilsner – NE Ohio love!) and the most amazing appetizer ever:  Cauliflower Gratin.  Gratin is code for baked cheesy goodness (another professional O-HI-30 definition), typically potato style.  But in true gastropub style, this was elevated to new heights with the use of Cauliflower.  It was served in a mini cast iron skillet (adorable) with some tasty bread for dipping:

I wasn’t really in the mood for a burger, but I was in the mood for fries (duh).  I also felt like a salad.  So I decided to order three sides for my meal:  a beet and goat cheese salad, Zaatar fries, and – wait for it – a side of mac & cheese!   Apparently I felt that I needed more baked cheese.  As is typically the case when starving, I over-ordered and then proceeded to overeat the first set of cheesy goodness, so by the time my dinner came, I was already pretty full.  #champagne problems.  So I took almost all of the mac & cheese home, which made a great Saturday afternoon lunch.  Karen ordered a burger, which she said was good but we both agreed that the bun was lame and would not meet my mother’s bun standards (“a boring bun”).

Upon first bite, the beet salad was heaven.  But as I continued to eat, it became a bit too much.  Too vingery or something.  I liked it, but I didn’t finish it.  I also was expecting it to be more of a green salad with beets instead of a beet salad with a few greens, although it was beautiful.  The fries, of course, were amazing.  They were tossed in Zaatar seasoning, which is kind of like a cajun spice blend.  Karen’s sweet potato fries were also good.  And the mac & cheese was perhaps not anything to write home about, but I liked it – also served in an adorable cast iron skillet!

The service was superb (which is more than can be said for the service at Bareburger last night 😦 ), the food was great, and the atmosphere was lively.  I’m already planning my return visit post-triathlon in two weeks!

Triathlon:  T-2 Weeks!
As you might recall from this post, I had a bike accident two weeks ago when riding the trail.  It took some time, but I’m finally starting to feel better.  I really pulled my pectoral muscle, and it hurt so much Dr. Ash convinced me to get an x-ray – just to set expectations (there isn’t much that can be done for a cracked rib).  So that I did on Wednesday, and happily it came back clear.  Maybe it’s the placebo effect, but I started feeling better on Thursday and it’s much better now.  I still can’t hold a plank position for more than a few seconds, so I won’t be going back to my personal trainer quite yet, but I’m very happy I didn’t do any real damage and that it’s finally feeling better.

Now that the physical discomfort is pretty much gone, it was time to tackle the mental discomfort – getting back on the bike.  More specifically, riding the turns that have landed me on my butt twice in the past two years!  I’m what you’d call a nervous biker – I’m much more comfortable on my two feet, and even then I’m not 100%.  But I knew I needed to get back on the saddle, and soon – my Olympic Tri is just two weeks away!

So get back on the saddle I did!  This morning, my friend Matt and I hit the trail for a 25+ mile out-and-back ride.  He set the pace, I attempted to keep up, and we rode to the most northern part of the trail – a personal distance best for me.  While I was nervous every single turn, I didn’t fall, and felt surprisingly good.  Thanks, Matt, for a great ride!

Cleveland
Quick shout-out to my hometown Cleveland, Ohio!  In case you haven’t heard, it was a big week for Cleveland.  First, the announcement that the blue-collar, largely democratic city beat out Dallas, TX to be the host of the 2016 Republican National Convention.  A very interesting move by the red party, indeed.  My parents will either need to leave town that weekend, or I’ll need to drive up to picket.  I’m leaning towards the latter.  And then, LBJ (no, not Lyndon B. Johnson) announced (in much better form than the last time) his Decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Two things I’ve learned from this:  A.  People have short memories when it serves their best interest and B. People mature.

Eating Out
Lately, I’ve been eating out.  A lot.  I haven’t been in much of a cooking mood for quite some time now.  I blame it partially on grad school – I was majorly burnt out on packing lunch and dinner when I finally gave up on that in the last nine months of school.  But I’ve now been out of school for more than six months, and it’s time to get back in the cooking groove.  If not for the fact that I might actually enjoy it, then for the fact that both my money supply and vegetable consumption are dwindling.

So on that note, I’m going to cook some dinner now – which will double as a packed lunch tomorrow.  Matt gave me an extremely large zucchini from his garden, so that will play at least a supporting role in this meal.  Stay tuned for what that meal is – and my tips for getting out of a packed lunch rut!

This Fourth-of-July weekend I celebrated the wedding of a longtime friend, Jared, and his new wife Jen.  Just a year apart in age, I grew up with Jared and his three siblings on Glen Park Dr.  Although our days of kickball and mario kart are distant memories now, our parents have remained dear friends, and it was quite an honor to see Jared all grown-up in his wedding tux.  Congratulations, J & J!

And with that, I’ll transition to the opposite end of the love spectrum.  Two weeks ago I wrote the first post in a series dedicated to my experiences in online dating.  In case you missed it (but how could you?), in Online: Part I I discussed the reasons behind why I decided to join the delightful world of online dating world five years ago.  I also shared the below graph of the online marketplace as I’ve experienced it, which can be summed up in one simple relationship:  Quantity vs. Quality.

 

I’m guessing many of you aren’t as intimately familiar with the online marketplace as I am, so I wanted to take a post (or four) to introduce you to the four dating sites I’ve used:  Tinder, OKCupid, JDate, and Match.com.  I’ll start with Tinder, as it is the latest dating (if you can call it that) craze and the one I’ve used most recently.  Tinder is actually not an online dating website but a dating “app” for your phone.  The premise is simple:  Tinder will show you guys (or girls) that are within a certain radius of you at any given time.  You are presented with these men one at a time, and are asked to “swipe right” if you are interested and left if you are not.  If both you and the guy swipe right, then you are “matched” and can begin chatting through the app – very similar to texting.  If either one of you swipes left, then you are not matched and you can’t talk through the app.  Think of it as “hot or not”, and both parties have to say “hot” or it’s a no-go.

Make sense?  To start “Tinder-ing”, one simply downloads the app and links it up to one’s Facebook account.  You then select a profile picture and a few supporting pics, and you’re off and running (or should I say, “swiping”).  Simple as that.  No lengthy set of profile questions to answer, no hours spent agonizing over your “self-summary”.   You can write a few sentences about yourself to give the swiper something to ask you about should you become a match, but that’s not necessary.  I, for one, have nothing written on my profile – just a picture of my smiling self.  It seems to be quite effective – I have a 95% match rate!  (don’t worry, I’m not so popular on match.com – more on that later).

From my perspective, Tinder’s unique value proposition – what makes it different from all other dating sites and apps (that MBA is paying off already) can be boiled down to two things:

1.  Attraction:  By cutting out the lengthy profile associated with other dating sites, Tinder gets to the heart of dating right off the bat:  attraction.  “Am I attracted to this person?” is the first, and only, question asked on Tinder.  The rest is up to you.  Yes, traditional dating sites have photos, but they also have copious amounts of text in effort to convince you that looks aren’t the only thing that matter.  And of course, they aren’t.  But Tinder is betting on the fact that for most singles, attraction is pretty darn important.  At the very least, it’s a way to screen potential mates (or potential one-night stands, as the case may be for some).

2. Mutual Interest:  The second feature that makes Tinder unique is the concept of  mutual interest.  Anyone who has spent more than an hour on a dating site knows that 99% of the attention one receives is unwanted – creepy emails from creepy guys.  And it goes both ways – I’ve spent precious hours crafting clever email messages to guys only to have them ignored.  On Tinder, however, all it takes is a swipe of a finger to know if someone is interested in you or not.  And if you both swipe right and are “matched”, then only then can you start talking – cutting right to the chase.

Reading so far, you might think Tinder is the greatest thing since MTV’s “Singled Out”.  It’s fun, straight-forward, and effortless.  But Tinder isn’t all swipes and roses.  You see, the very things that make Tinder unique are also what makes it very flaky.  Tinder is fun – what isn’t fun about swiping through a never-ending series of men and deciding whether they are hot-or-not?  But because it’s so fun, it’s not taken seriously.  I’d say 50% (at least) of the matches on my phone were made by people other than myself.  Most often married friends that get a kick out of Tindering.  What could be more fun as a happy couple than reveling in the single-status of your friends?  Thus, I pay very little (if any) attention to my matches and ignore most of the chats that come through.  Especially if those matches were made by friends who think it’s hilarious to right-swipe on guys like this charmer below (you know who you are).  Those same friends also think it’s hilarious to send these guys messages such as “want to make out?”.  Good friends I have.

It goes both ways.  I’ve also received messages from guys like, “want to make out in my car tonight?” (this was at 2PM on a Thursday), and most recently, something very Rated-R:  “did you know there are only 5 people capable of whistling while performing cunnilingus and I’m 3 of them?”  Yep.  That Happened.

To further complicate things, Tinder is all about having the right timing.  If you swipe right on someone who might not swipe right on you til much later, it’s easy to forget about that match and move on to someone else.  And because it’s high-volume, with lots of swipes and lots of matches in a short period of time, it’s easy to forget about someone.  Tinder is based on the “here-and-now” concept – two people both in the right frame of mind at the same time – and it doesn’t work so well when that’s not the case.  It’s also notoriously casual – people just looking for a one-night stand, not a relationship.

That being said, I’ve been on a few Tinder dates that are just as normal as any other date.  I’ve also known people to have long-term relationships with people they’ve met on Tinder.  After all, once you “match”, what difference does it make how you met?  You’re still just two people looking for a connection.  My advice to anyone who is thinking about joining Tinder is to not take it too seriously.  Swipe, give your phone to your friends to swipe, laugh, and chat up a few guys.  Maybe it’ll lead to something, maybe it won’t.  But one thing is for sure – you’ll definitely have fun!

Start Swiping!

When I started this blog, I made a decision that I was not going to discuss politics on this space. Well, 6 weeks and ten (!) posts later, I’m already going back on that decision – sort of.

As I hope you have heard by now, on Monday The Supremes (as my favorite daily news publication, The Skimm, calls the highest court in the land) ruled 5-4 that the government cannot force corporations to cover employees’ birth control.  The ruling was in favor of Hobby Lobby, who argued that the Affordable Care Act’s birth control requirement violated their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a 1993 law that says the government must not “substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion.”  The dissent, lead by justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, argued that corporations are not people and thus not covered by the RFRA.  If you need a bit of a refresher, this article does a good job of summing up the ruling.

After two days of stewing about this ruling and debating whether I should post about it, I decided that yes, indeed, I should.  Because this is not a political issue.  This is a human rights issue.  An issue that goes to the root of our what makes America great.  It’s an everyone issue.  And everyone, no matter what side of the aisle you fall on, should be paying attention.

Although I’m my father’s daughter in many aspects, I haven’t yet reached his level of blind liberalism (but I’m sure I’ll get there) and wanted to understand where the majority was coming from.  It’s worth repeating that I am not a lawyer, nor a political activist, nor anything that even remotely resembles an expert on the topic.  But I think I’ve gathered enough information to share a little bit of what makes me so angry about this ruling.  So share I will.

When issuing their opinion, the majority was specific in who this ruling applied to – “closely-held for-profit corporations”, ones with 50% or more ownership by 5 or fewer people.  So yes, most for-profit public corporations aren’t affected by this ruling.  But “closely” isn’t equivalent to “small”.  Dell, for example, would fall under this law, as would Toys-R-Us and Mars candy, to name a few.  Don’t be fooled – while this ruling may not directly impact YOU, it does affect millions of Americans.

It’s also worth noting that the ruling does not apply to all forms of birth control, just those that Hobby Lobby took issue with – those that they believe cause abortions, like the IUD and Plan B.  The problem is, that ruling now sets precedence for all similar rulings in the lower courts, opening the flood gates.  For example, perhaps the owners of another corporation decide that all forms of birth control are not in accordance with their religious beliefs.  Then are they not required to offer any form of birth control under insurance?  And what about a corporation who’s owners don’t believe in organ donation, or blood transfusions, or vaccinations as part of their religious beliefs?  Where is the line drawn?

While I do believe that this ruling is an attack on women and puts us one step closer to where we once were, my biggest concern is not about the birth control itself.  It’s about the fact that we are treating corporations as people – and corporations are most definitely not people.  Why should the religious beliefs of a corporation’s owners trump the beliefs of the thousands of people that work for them?  And where does it stop?  What if a corporation decides that it is against their religious convictions to hire Jewish people, or women?  Sounds crazy, but it doesn’t’ seem that far off.  By ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby, the Supreme Court has created a very scary loophole, and one that threatens individual freedoms.  As Justice Ginsberg so eloquently put it, “the court, I fear, has ventured into a minefield”.

I’ve barely scratched the surface here.  There are still significant issues to be discussed, like the high cost of birth control, or the fact that an employer can now interfere with the medical decisions between a patient and physician.  Or the blatant hypocrisy of a company like Hobby Lobby touting their religious beliefs while at the same time manufacturing in China and investing in companies that make birth control.  The list goes on.

If you’ve gotten this far, I hope, at a minimum, I’ve got you thinking (if you weren’t already).  Maybe you’re even ANGRY. Not at me, of course (although that’s possible too), but at our Justice System and the High Court that rules it.  At our sad state of affairs that even in 2014, some women still can’t obtain affordable birth control.  And at the number of people that don’t appear to be paying any attention at all.

I’m Angry.  Are You?