Big Gay 10K

Yesterday was the Big Gay 10K race from Fort Mason to Fort Point (just underneath the Golden Gate Bridge) and back.  The morning started pretty chilly, but really cleared up and was pretty warm by the time we were on our way back from the bridge.  This outfit would have worked a lot better without the long-sleeved shirt underneath:

My outfit for Nike Half Marathon?

Note how sunny it was near the finish line!

The costumes this year weren't quite as crazy as they were last year (when there was a team of guys dressed as geisha or another couple dressed as The Ambiguously Gay Duo), but at least we had a penguin:

Penguin...bundled up in the fog at the start

My finish time was 1:04:59, which was more than two minutes less than last year and got me a spot at #17 in my age group (out of 43, not 17...ha ha), so I was happy!  A blinking pin for finishing was the icing on the cake...

Instead of a medal. This is cute!

Oh, that and going to dinner with my parents at Panama Hotel in San Rafael.  Half of my Dad's hamburger with bacon and avocado hit the spot.  I love the Fire Roasted Chile Stuffed with Quinoa (and mushroom and a bunch of other good stuff), but my body was craving beef, so we brought most of that home.  We also split a really good Apple and Strawberry Crisp with Tahitian Vanilla Gelato for dessert.  The perfect end to my running day!

I almost forgot what we split as an appetizer since we have it every time we go!  It was the Tuscan Toast Platter with roasted garlic, sundried tomato tapenade, goat cheese, and olives.  A great start!

On Friday I just relaxed (my workout "Rest" day) and got a gel mani and pedi (with extra 10 minute leg massage...aah), bought some more hair dye, stopped by Trader Joe's, and then made this salad for dinner:

This salad looked crazy and there was a bunch of stuff hiding in it, but it was mixed greens, avocado, carrots, chickpeas, a Spicy Bean Garden Burger (ripped up!), alfalfa sprouts, and a few crumbled up pretzels to add some carbs and crunch.  The dressing was my own concoction:  1T Greek yogurt (plain),
1t Sweet & Sour Mustard (from TJ's), 1t minced garlic, and a couple of shakes of soy sauce to make it a little more liquid.  Yummy!

Today I'm chilling at my parents' house after an early 4 mile run and a shopping spree at Target.  We're catching up on the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Hilarious!

XOXO

P.S.  Bear with me while I goof around some more with the design of this blog!

Dinner Musings

I went to strength training class tonight and was tempted to make my Oat Protein Pancake (yes, again), but I had (well...still have) some perishables to eat. Here was my dinner:





Yes, the plate was on my rug. I was hungry and wanted to watch mindless celebrity entertainment for a few minutes, so this was most convenient. This was my leftover broiled tofu and some of the sauce I made on Friday sitting on mixed greens, chickpeas, sprouts, and carrots. It was quite filling, but also light!

It didn't really compare in awesomeness to my dinner on Saturday night at Frances (17th & Noe). Frances is a cute neighborhood restaurant with friendly staff, but it's really difficult to get a reservation. Fortunately, my friend "inherited" someone else's reservation for a four-top at 8PM, so I was invited to go along with another friend of hers.

I wasn't quick enough to snap photos of the maple bacon beignets (O.M.G.) or chicken wings, but I did manage to get shots of a few things. (Oh, I also missed the salad. Shoot.)

Here was my entree...Chicken with Panzanella Salad:





I was envisioning something like the Zuni Cafe Chicken with Tuscan Bread Salad when I ordered. This wasn't anything like it, but it was flavorful, light (which I wanted since we ate later than I normally do), and the chicken was SO moist. (My last experience with chicken was of the fried variety at Wayfare Tavern. It was their specialty, but it was really dry. I'd had better fried chicken at KFC and for a lot less money!) It had some broth that you can't really see here, greens, and potatoes. I would order it again, but I might want to try some of the other items on the menu first. (My friend had the Bavette Steak and her friend had Halibut.)

Here were the desserts we ordered. The first was a chocolate cake with banana in the middle with an insanely delicious salted caramel ice cream. The second was panna cotta. Both were excellent!













I didn't try the wine because I'm still not drinking, but it turned out OK. I'm SO used to having wine with dinner, but I actually survived fine with sparkling water. My friend told me before we went that SHE was not drinking for the month of August either, so that helped.

Not drinking actually made dinner more pleasant in a lot of ways. I have to say that the restaurant was pretty warm and loud, so I think wine would have made me tired and less likely to enjoy my meal.

If I go back and am on the sauce again, I'd try their house wine. I've heard that you can order their blended wine (they blend it in house) and it's only $1/ounce or something.

Well, I'm pooped and have to be at work at 7AM, so I'm going to decompress from my iPhone light. I think I'll read Harriet the Spy, one of the books from childhood that i loved (check out my 101 in 1001 list). Hope your Monday was a good one!

Later, gators!

XOXO

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