Happy Dirty Thirty, Dave!!!

To the man of my dreams....



I love you!
xoxo
b
*** Part Two ***

Well....I couldn't stop there. So I emailed a big group of friends this morning and attached an AWESOME photo of Dave and asked them to post that photo as their profile picture for Facebook for the day.

Here is a portion of the outcome (status updates for you non-Facebook-ers):



And here is the fantastic photo they each posted. HILARIOUS!!!



Love you, baby!!!

Dave's Brotha' From Anotha' Motha'

Meg started dating Marco around our Junior/Senior year of college. I remember it was around Valentine's Day because the first time I saw a picture of him (which she had to physically send me in the mail to Boston since we didn't have digital cameras yet!), he was standing in her UNC house on Pritchard Street and I thought I was staring at a picture of MY boyfriend instead (Dave)!!! It was absolutely bizarre. Well, little did we know then that 10+ years later, we'd still be with these twins!

Tomorrow is Dave's 30th Birthday and I sent out an email reminder to our friends re: the weekend plans. With that email, I included a photo of Dave from when he was a youngster, which started the long email debate amongst our NC friends as to whether Dave and Marco's moms/dads really did "interact" between the states of CT and NY (where they were each born). It's UNCANNY. Marco then responded with "evidence" as to why he is/was the cuter baby. I'd say the jury is still out on that one considering all of us pee our pants every time we see this photo of Marco.

I submit it to you, the Blog Audience, to decide.


Who is who??

One observation from Kevin C:
"Nick Nack (FYI: Herve Villechaize) v. Goggle-Face McGee Death Match? Marco would win by stabbing Dave with the imposing 4" collar points on his bandido shirt, purchased on sale at the Clothing Corral."

Eeek...harsh.

And who is Hervé Villechaize, you may be asking? Dave's other twin...or his father? Again....it's a mystery.


Hervé Villechaize...aka "Tattoo"

Oh, and here they are "today"....


Marco and My "Ethnically Ambiguous" Hubby

This whole thing would be over except that now our friends won't let him live any of this down for even a moment.

Such as these rebuttals:


Courtesy of Jess...suggesting what Dave could ride to Sam's on


Courtesy of Ben...click on it!

Dave had to defend himself against Marco's "attack", so he showed Marco how he hasn't changed a bit since the 70s....


Marco: Then and Now...

And Marco countered with this....just priceless. And now they all have them as their Facebook Profiles...amazing!


Dave: Then and Now...

Oktoberfest in San Francisco...Chug-a-lug!

Chris' birthday is tomorrow (Monday) and a group of 10 of us went out last night to Suppenkuche, an awesome, fun German restaurant in SF. This restaurant is the Mullet of German festivities...business in the front (with casual yet loud communal tables) and party in the back (where they put large groups to basically wile' out). The scene is a la Oktoberfest...or at least how I imagine it. The back room fits three groups, which was filled to the brim with three birthday parties including ours.


Scene in the back room of Suppenkuche

Suppenkuche has multiple beer size options, one of which is a 3-Liter "man-size" that each table embarked upon (for those of us not fluent in metrics, 3 liters = just over 6 pints or about 8 1/2 cans of beer).


Birthday Boy Chris tackling a 3-Liter of Beer

Before you know it, we've decided that the three groups need to compete in a chugging contest of the 3L beer. The girls of our group were automatically eliminated for our lack of chugging skillz (yes, disappointing but true), so that left our five guys to fend for the team.


Our Team


Dave's Successful Quest to Ruin his new Barney's Shirt with Beer

Finally, the contest began. We unfortunately lost...horribly. You can see the 1st place winners in the back left of the screen (even though it's super dark). So sad.


Complete Mayhem in the Back Room


Jen and Alex Celebrating their European Heritage


Dave and me loving every moment


Happy Birthday, Chris!

Nonetheless, we made friends with the table next to us (the 2nd place team...yes, we were undoubtedly 3rd place) and decided to continue the party at a bar down the street. Our group didn't last long and Dave and I decided to continue our own dance party at Gravity back in the Marina. We don't often go to a dance club solo, so it was a lot of fun to just get down without knowing a soul around!

For more pics of the festivities, check these out:


To the chugging pros of our lives...Meg, husband Marco, bro-in-law Jon...don't judge us. Some of us weren't chugging from the womb and we can only hope to achieve your level or professionalism in life. xoxo

Welcome to Cougarville, Y'all!

I am a little surprised that my brain cells aren't completely dead and I can write this after the weekend we just had. Five of my closest girlfriends from North Carolina came in and ALL of us have lost our voice from laughing (okay - we're women....so perhaps some drunken screaming and I'm pretty sure we didn't let 30 seconds of silence pass in the 4 1/2 days they were here).

They arrived on Thursday afternoon and sweet Dave picked them up from the airport until I was home from work. Four out of five of the girls are moms, so the theme of the weekend was, "Welcome to Cougarville." I rearranged the chalkboard accordingly (with pictures of their kiddies and hubbies).


Chalkboard for their arrival


Starting off the weekend with some champy. From left, we have Nicole, Mary, Me, Elizabeth, Tanya and Meg

We went out on Thursday night, literally ran into my friend Ben who went to high school with all of us, and thus started our quest to rid San Francisco of all its liquor.

Friday morning we got up early. I worked from home, but figured they could manage for the day with shopping, eating, manis and pedis...somehow they would survive. We walked up to the Golden Gate Bridge that morning (our only exercise for the weekend...these girls even forced us to take taxis in our neighborhood which is just sac-relig).


Posing like rock stars on the GG Bridge


Elizabeth posing as Kimmie Gibler at the street from Full House

Friday night, it was game on and we were ready to rock. We started with a photo of our weekend theme....


Cougars, Baby


On the dance floor, where - at the time - I was pretty sure I could throw down in a dance-off with Janet Jackson

Saturday, we were up and at 'em early again. We figured that we slept approximately 10 hours over the course of 4 days...no time to rest when the six of us are together!

We took taxis to Tiburon (across the Bay) to Sam's where we indulged in just a few of their famous pink lemonades.


The Girls enjoying the sunshine...we were all lobsters by day's end


Meg had to keep a life preserver handy


...And then she became Captain Meg

We took the ferry back from Sam's to SF and decided sushi and sake bombs were in order next.


Sake Bombs...the beginning of the end...or the end of the beginning??


Meg's hair size and alcohol intake is famous for corresponding exactly to one another


...and after sake bombs, Eliz wanted to hit up karaoke, so we headed to Silver Clouds where she and Meg quite possibly sang the worst rendition of Dancing Queen....ever.

No time to rest on Sunday morning as we had a 9:30am (!!!) appointment for a tour to Alcatraz. I had never been, so was really excited to finally see this "island" that is just over 1 mile from our apartment.


The Girls checking out one of the cells...wondering if they can escape San Fran before ending up in one of these due to "loud and obnoxious behavior"??

After Alcatraz, Dave was sweet (and patient!) enought to chauffer the six of us to Napa for the day!!! We only made it to two wineries...Mumm (for champy) and Del Dotto.


Hanging in the sunshine at Mumm


Dave hung with us at the first tasting, then ditched us for the next tasting, which took us over two hours to complete! Elizabeth smelling the "bunghole" of a wine cask


Seeing a theme here? "You can take a Girl out of Cougarville, but you can't take the Cougar out of the Girl."

We hit the town on Sunday night, and finally had to say goodbye as the girls left at 4am on Monday to go home-sweet-home. I was reminded at least a hundred times how grateful I am to have these five girls (and the ones that couldn't make it!) in my adult life. I hear that it's pretty rare to be BF with girls from high school (and middle school!), so I am beyond appreciative that I have these women (cougars, if you will), that I can turn to with anything at anytime. We've known each other for 20 years and it just gets better and better! xoxo

Oh Yes...We are Runnin'!

Well, that would be the "royal we" as I am hitting the pavement on my own latetly! I ran a really hilly (but great...and beautiful) 6 miles on Sunday in CT and then actually ran 11 yesterday! My marathon team (the Flamingos) asked if I would write a little something about the course, by running it in increments between now and October, as I am the only one that lives here (the rest of my team is flying in from mostly the east coast). I gladly accepted! Here is my first installment:


Nike Course Map...all 26.2! Small green dot on northern part of map is our apartment

Link to full SF Nike Women's Marathon Course

Hello Fellow Flamingos,
I am pleased to bring you the first report from your local San Francisco Correspondent. Today, I ran miles 1-6 and let me tell you - the best word to describe those first 6 miles are FLAT-FLAT-FLAT! I know you hear about San Francisco's hills (and we've heard rumors that our SF Marathon will bring us 6 tough ones), but the good news is that only ONE of them will hit us in those first 6 miles! Here is a recap of the first quarter of our journey:
Starting Line: We will find ourselves in Union Square...the heart of San Francisco's shopping mecca! It is full of the hustle and bustle of locals and tourists alike, and is a perfect location - full of energy - to start our journey!
Miles 1-2: We will run through downtown, east toward the water where we'll run (flat!) along the Embarcadero...one of my favorite areas of San Francisco. We pass the Ferry Building (where our farmer's market is located and is a MUST on your visit to SF) and run along wide sidewalks, accompanied by plenty of pedestrians, bikers, cars and trolley cars.
Mile 3: As we enter into Mile 3, we'll run along the famous Fisherman's Wharf area, certainly one of SF's most popular attractions. Locals do not go here, so this is a good opportunity to see what it's like and keep on truckin'! As we end mile three, we'll pass Ghirardelli Square and then bend around Aquatic Park, where locals swim along shore daily (in the cold water!) and kayaks depart. Enjoy the scenery now, because Mile 4 is a doozy!
Mile 4: Here comes that hill I mentioned! The hill is rather short (takes about 2 minutes) but quite steep. Biciclysts often walk up it, but runners can take it slow and keep their posture up and glide by. At the top, you will be rewarded with a beautiful view of Fort Mason Park (large grass area) and - as we all know - what comes up, must come down! The rest of mile four is flat and your view will become a postcard once you depart Fort Mason Park (about 3 more minutes).
Mile 5-6: For the remainder of this leg of the race, you will have water views of the San Francisco Bay including Alcatraz to your right, the Palace of Fine Arts to your left and the Golden Gate Bridge straight ahead! If you recall Geri's birthday video, this is the exact area I was standing when wishing her well. This area (end of mile 4, beginning of mile 5) is exactly where Dave and I live, so we can be sure to expect a cheering crowd here as we depart the Marina and enter the Presidio!

This photo from Flickr has a great perspective of where we run; especially visible are miles 3-6. Look on the left side of the photo and we follow the water from the top of the photo to the bottom. The photo has captions when you roll over it so you can see the various areas. The only place I didn't mention in the recap is the "famous" Marina Safeway. The Marina is the neighborhood where we live and is best known for it's yuppy class of residents. The Safeway grocery store is nicknamed the "Marina Dateway" because of all of the pick-ups that happen there. Ladies, look your best and SMILE!

Stay tuned as I will continue to run portions of the course and let you know what we have ahead of us. As I found today, the first obstacle is getting TO the running location. I had to run 2 miles (through Little Italy and Chinatown) just to get TO the starting line in Union Square! Then, at the end of the 6 mile race course portion, I had another 3 miles to get me home for a total of 11 miles! It was a great excuse for me to get in the mileage I needed this week and to experience what we'll see in October. Miles 7+ to follow soon!

A Letter from Moms & Pops....

Dad & Carolyn emailed Lindsay and me on Saturday with this message regarding our running plans towards our October marathon. Dad is a three-time marathoner (NYC, Chicago and New Orleans) and knows the importance of prepping enough. I was so touched at their thoughtfulness, I wanted to share:
*************************************************
Email Subject: MARATHON MILES
Email Message:
I'm concerned that you girls are not putting in enough miles for the 10/19 event!

So Carolyn and I would like to "sweeten the pot" and help you increase your mileage and build more enthusiasm. We are willing to contribute 50 cents a mile for every mile you each run, beginning today and including the marathon. This money will be contributed to the charity of your choice.

Some rules:
1. You both keep track of your day to day mileage. (Dave and Jon will be my watchdogs.)

2. Each week let us know what your total is for the week.

3. According to Hal Higdon (running coach) at either the "novice" or "intermediate" running level, you should be running 30 miles per week now through marathon week (Google "marathon training.)"

4. Although you should be doing some cross-training, running miles is the only thing that counts in the payout.

5. Just in case you get too enthusiastic, we have a 400 mile cap on the payout.

6. Carolyn and I will be happy to write checks to the charity of you choice (the Rynearsons or Bryands are not charities). The top potential amount is $200 each.

7. Payout is at the celebration after the marathon.

Good luck, stay healthy; it's time to hit the running trail.

Love,
Pops and Carolyn

See Jane (and Heidi and Brooke) Tri...

I did a sprint triathlon with my sister, Lindsay, and bro-in-law, Jon, a few years ago in Long Beach, CA. It was SO much fun and it felt great to accomplish something new. Sprint triathlons are intended for either a) beginners or b) people who wan to go wicked fast. We were obviously part of Group A (well, except maybe Jon, but he is a freak of healthy nature that is the kind of person who can enter a race on a whim in the morning and then just, well, win it).

Anyways, my Dad has us write New Years Resolutions every year and then we all read them out loud to each other on NY Eve (Dad, Carolyn, Jon, Lindsay, Dave and me), either in person on the good years or over a conference call when we can't be physically together. We discuss our goals and what's to come in the next year. I LOVE this traditition and always learn about some new interest from everyone in the family (including Dave!). Ever since that first tri, I have had another tri listed on my resolutions and haven't come through with actually doing one. Until this year!

I begged and pleaded with my girlfriends and finally got ONE to agree (Heidi, our world-traveler-extraordinaire) and we are on our way! We signed up for "See Jane Tri", a sprint triathlon that will take place in September in the East Bay. It consists of:

* 400 yard open water (lake) swim (1/4 mile)
* 11 mile bike
* 5K run (3.1 miles)

As we are still in Connecticut hanging with Dave's family, my brother-in-law, Jon, volunteered to swim the lake with me yesterday! We weren't sure how far across it was from the house to the beach at Lake Beseck, but (of course) it didn't "look" too far. Just the same, I begged Dave and his mom to paddle the kayaks along side us (combination irrational fear of wild-and-crazy fish attacking me and of boats hitting me). They generously complied and we were off!


Lake Beseck and Our Journey Across...yes, it's a rather small lake that is 1/4 mile across and 1 mile "long"

The swim wasn't THAT bad. I was never on swim team or anything, but can certainly swim the necessary strokes (freestyle, breast, sidestroke...not butterfly...who swims butterfly in everyday life??). The swim experience was an eye-opener to me on the importance of form. Dave kept laughing at me because I'd swim 10 strokes of freestyle, look up, and be swimming completely crooked, almost perpendicular, to where I was supposed to be going. I'd get back on track again and do the same. Finally, he suggested I point my body to a location FAR to the right so that, when I started curving, I'd end up where I was supposed to be. Hopefully I can rectify this before the Tri in September as it could be quite embarassing to run into the water when the shotgun starts, then find myself swimming left when everyone else is right...or the ultimate taboo...find myself swimming in a circle. :-)



Thank you, Jon, for being my swim-mate! We are planning to attempt a "mini-biathlon" tomorrow with running + swimming...if I can make it across again.