Outside brunch and a $50,000 engagement ring

I got to see my friend Danielle and her boyfriend Tim today. We had brunch outside at Stephanie's on Newbury, a cute place in Boston's Back Bay. We were really lucky because we didn't get there until about 10:30 and there was one table available outside.

Since I was up at 8 I knew I wouldn't be able to wait until nearly 11 for brunch, so I had a banana before I left to meet them. I stopped in at Starbucks and got an iced coffee and watched the participants of Boston's Run to Remember 1/2 marathon run by while I waited for them to come down from their hotel. I got really pumped up for them and inside I was really jealous that I wasn't running too! Seriously, I felt like putting my bag down and running along side them. My adrenaline went through the roof! I wanted to run SO BAD!

I watched them for about 10 minutes before Danielle called looking for me. (oops!)

By the time we ordered I really wasn't feeling breakfast food anymore, so I ordered their rustic roasted vegetable stack:
portabella mushroom, zucchini, summer squash and red pepper on hearty multi grain with basil mayo and melted fontina served with field greens

This sandwich was AWESOME! Everything about it. I gave a piece to Danielle and devoured the rest. YUM!






Tim and Danielle



Danielle and I



After brunch we walked around the Back Bay and browsed through its many stores. Danielle wanted to go to Tiffany's so I said, "SURE!" (I'm not much of a jewelry girl but, hey, I can dream can't I?) I found an engagement ring I liked about 4 years ago and decided to try it on for fun. The ring fit me perfectly and looked so nice on my finger....and then I saw the price tag...$50,000???? I had a $50,000+ ring on my finger! I seriously almost had a heart attack when I realized how much it was. Some people just have too much money on their hands...

Danielle and Tim were driving back to NY so we parted ways at around 1:30 and just as I was walking to the train stop I heard thunder...and saw some lightening...and then a few drops...and then BAM! It was storming. Luckily I was able to find cover and Dennis came to my rescue.

Then I came home and made him dinner. But before that happened, I needed a snack.



1/2 cup Newman's Own Sweet Enough Honey Flax cereal
1/2 cup Cascadian Farms Vanilla Almond Crunch
3/4 cup vanilla soy milk
1/2 banana

And a slice of Cinnamon Ezekiel bread that I munched down on while everything was cooking.

I made Kath's tomato sauce with a few changes.

I used:

• 2 beefsteak tomatoes
• 4 plum tomatoes
• 1 pint pearl tomatoes
• 1 whole onion

The rest was the same. We even bought and planted some fresh basil and oregano to use. It was amazing! (I've actually made it before so I knew it was good) It's the first time I've been able to truly "master" a tomato sauce. I will definitely use this recipe for many many years to come. Thanks Kath!



I like to use the "appetizer" plates for portion control. Dennis thinks it's silly but I think it works.

About an hour later I had another small portion of my leftover cake truffle thing. It does not take good pictures so I didn't bother.

At around 9:00 Dennis and I sat out on our porch for an hour and hung out. I had a small glass of wine and he had a cigar. (I stink now)
I love being able to sit outside at night. It's nice not having the TV or computer in front of you for a little while you know?

I didn't run my 8 miles today for a few reasons. One--I met Tim and Danielle for brunch. And two--my ankles were a little sore from the TreadClimber machine yesterday. It's seriously the only downfall to that machine...
My plan is to get up and do it tomorrow before the Memorial Day traffic gets too hectic. And then hopefully Dennis and I can do something festive. BBQ maybe?

On another note, I've been doing a lot of reading about proper training for running races. I found some information on repeats, which I found to be very interesting. However, there isn't a lot out there for 15K training. First, I'm not sure how many repeats I should be doing; second I'm not sure what pace I should be running them; and three how much recovery time should I be giving myself in between repeats? I keep seeing so many different answers ... it's hard trying to learn when everyone has so many different opinions....