Hot Ribs & Cool Jazz

Besides the Ohio Food & Wine Festival, my other favorite summer festival is the Jazz & Ribs Fest in downtown Columbus. My parents had never been so Todd & I met them down there on Saturday afternoon for some hot ribs and cool jazz. And no, I didn't think of that on my own, that's the slogan for the festival. We walked around before deciding which barbecue vendors to hit up.

There were lots to choose from

Todd's strategy in picking which ribs place to go to was based on the length of line. He wasn't necessarily concerned about getting the best ribs but waiting the least amount of time in the blazing sun so we always picked the vendor with the shortest line. And you know what? The ribs were always delicious! My parents went to the Jack Daniels rib vendor and I think Todd was slightly disappointed we didn't got there once he found out they poured Jack straight on the ribs. Once we all had plenty of food to eat, we headed over to the jazz stage to lay out our picnic blankets and eat in the shade.

Ribs from 2 different places, cornbread, coleslaw, and baked beans

Todd & I enjoying the food and company

After the ribs, we all walked around to check out the rest of the festival. Besides ribs, there are lots of other fair food vendors set up. Last year, I had deep fried buckeyes which were delicious but I couldn't find them this year. Instead, we all split a Reese's peanut butter & chocolate funnel cake.

Yum!

Gorgeous view of the Columbus skyline on a beautiful summer day

Blogging will probably be a little light this week due to lots of wedding meetings. My dress FINALLY came in yesterday (um yeah, I was kinda freaking out about it since we're at less than 4 weeks to go!) which means trying it on today (I haven't tried it on since I ordered it in November), getting my veil made, and getting alterations. I also need to look for a hair clip. We also had our final meeting with our florist last night, meeting with our photographer and day of the wedding coordinator tonight, and meeting with the church wedding coordinator on Thursday. Oh, and I have to go back to work from 7-8:30 PM twice this week. And I need to squeeze in some running and teach 2 spin/TRX classes. Whew! Next week will be more of the same as we go to the cake place, hopefully figure out the menu selections at our rehearsal dinner venue, and get our marriage license!

Weekly Recap: July 18-24

I knew my mileage would be down this week without a long run since I had a 5K on Saturday and I teach on Sunday but I was still hoping to run a little bit more during the week. Unfortunately, sleeping in on Wednesday sounded better than getting up for a midweek run but I think sometimes a day of rest is better than just running to get in miles. I'm hoping for more mileage this week as well as more Insanity workouts.

Monday: Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning (50 min)

Tuesday: taught 1 hr Spin/TRX combo class
4 mi (7:29 pace with 2 x 1 mi @ 7:13 & 7:06)

Wednesday: REST

Thursday: 1 hr Spin/TRX combo class
4 mi (8:05 pace)

Friday: 4 mi (8:29 pace)

Saturday: Genoa Firefighters MDA 5K (21:39; 6:58 pace)

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning

TOTAL: 15 mi

Genoa Firefighters MDA 5K

I wanted to run at least one 5K this summer and it seems like with my busy schedule and having to teach on Sunday mornings, it really limits which races I can actually run. I decided about a month ago to run the Genoa Firefighters MDA 5K yesterday morning. The race was only $20 (which seems relatively cheap now days for a 5K) and I do the fitness testing for Genoa Township Firefighters so I figured it was good to show my face there and talk with some of the guys.

I babysat the night before the race and didn't get home until 1:00 AM so I was a little tired when my alarm went off at 7:00 AM but felt pretty good and was ready to race. This was a significant cutback week for me in terms of mileage so my legs felt rested and all I was worried about was the heat & humidty awaitng me outside.

A nervous smile before the race

Columbus Police & Fire Pipes and Drums

I thought it was pretty neat that they were there playing

The start of the race

Feeling pretty good after the first half mile

On the way back to the finish with about a half mile left.....definitely feeling a little hot & tired by this point

Attempting to sprint to the finish

The Stats

Mile 1: 6:35
Mile 2: 6:55
Mile 3: 7:28
Mile 0.1: 0:41

Overall time for 5K: 21:39
Average pace: 6:58

Female: 2/52
Overall: 15/111

I was happy that I finished under a 7:00 minute place and that I ran faster than the two 5Ks from last summer but frustrated because I always start out way too fast and slow down the last mile significantly. I also realized that to actually improve my speed, I actually need to do some sort of speedwork, like 400 and 800 repeats. I know this isn't rocket science but I know when I'm training for longer races, like half and full marathons, I tend to do more tempo runs and slower long runs than speedwork. Overall though, I was happy with my race. I also really enjoyed the course too; it was on a bike/running path so it was shaded almost the entire race and the spectators were able to see you for the first and last half mile as you ran a large loop around a field to the start/finish area.

My second place plaque

Wedding Wednesday

We are exactly 1 month away from our wedding! I seriously cannot believe how fast time has flown by since we got engaged last September! Todd & I have been extremely busy the past few weeks and still have a lot of work to do....and it would make our lives a lot easier if people would send back their RSVPS.

Things we have accomplished recently:

Bottled our home brew for the rehearsal dinner

Todd putting the caps on the bottles

Todd sanded down the bottom of all the wine corks needed for our place cards but we still need to cut slits in them

Bought my fake ring for the ring bearer's pillow....Todd bought his in Nashville when we went months ago

Kept track of all the RSVPs we've received so far....still missing around 50 though

Cut out the place cards....gray is vegetarian, light pink is chicken, and fuschia is beef

Bought pink Toms for dancing during the reception because I don't think my feet will make it all night in my peep toe pumps

We have meetings lined up next week with our florist, photographer, day of the wedding coordinator, and wedding coordinator at the church and I'm excited to see how everything is falling into place!

Rainy Dime-A-Dog Night

Last night, Todd & I headed to Huntington Park in downtown Columbus to watch the Columbus Clippers play, the local AAA baseball team. It didn't hurt that it was also dime-a-dog night which means 10 cent hot dogs! The sky was looking a little dark as we drove down but we were with great company, Kevin & Brie, so we weren't too concerned. As soon as we made our way to the front of the concession stand line, the sky lit up with lightening and it started pouring down rain. We were pretty happy since we had 15 hot dogs to eat between the 4 of us and figured the storm would quickly blow over but we were definitely wrong! Our seats were not under cover so we decided to have a little picnic on the ground with lots of other people who were also hoping to stay dry. Yeah, I know, I was pretty grossed out by sitting on the dirty ground too but you gotta do what you gotta do in order to eat 10 cent hot dogs. The game ended up being cancelled so we headed back to our place and hung out with Kevin & Brie for awhile before calling it a night. The good news is that we can use our tickets from last night's game for any other game this season.

Brie showing off how many hot dogs we ate

Yes, I still can't believe I sat on the dirty ground

Todd just couldn't leave any hot dogs behind

Weekly Recap: July 11-17

What a week it was--almost 13 hours of working out and 4 double days!! I'm not quite sure how I managed to do that on top of working a full-time job and planning for my wedding but I did and I'm very pleased, although this will definitely not become a regular thing. They had a special 2 hour ride at one of the gyms I teach at on Friday evening and I taught the second hour. It was a blast and the members loved it but after spinning for 2 hours, less than 12 hours later I was up to run 12 miles. I was happy I pulled out a 7:38 for my last mile of the run but my legs and feet were extremely tired the rest of the day. I have a 5K I'm running on Saturday so this will hopefully be a little bit of a cutback week for me.

Monday: Insanity Max Interval Circuit (1 hr)
5 mi w/ 3 mi @ tempo (7:36 pace)

Tuesday: taught 1 hr Spin/TRX combo class
taught 1 hr spinning

Wednesday: 5 mi (8:14 pace)
Insanity Max Interval Plyo (1 hr)

Thursday: taught 1 hr Spin/TRX combo class

Friday: 4 mi (8:19 pace)
Team taught 2 hr "Friday Nite Cruise" spinning class

Saturday: 12 mi (8:09 pace; last mi in 7:38)

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning

TOTAL: 26 mi

Heat Wave

All I can say is WOW--it's gonna be a hot one this week! Typically in the summer in Ohio, we might have a few 90 degree days here & there and I even remember a couple summers ago we barely had any days above 90 degrees but not this year. I love summer and warm weather but even this might be a bit too much for me!

I Forgot to Mention....

Remember a couple months ago when I asked for a favor? Todd was trying to win $2000 speakers and needed people to vote for him. Well, I failed to mention that he actually WON THE SPEAKERS! Yes, he got enough votes to come in 2nd place and the top 3 each won the speakers. The day he found out was the day I flew to Texas so when he got the email he won, he immediately called me up. I swear, I'd never heard the boy sound so excited. He was so giddy and sounded like a little kid on Christmas. Everyday for the past month, Todd would anxiously await the email saying his speakers had shipped and he finally got the email on Tuesday. I came straight home from work on Wednesday so I could be home when UPS delivered them so I could sign for the package.

Each speaker weighed about 50 lbs so I just left them at the bottom of the stairs for Todd to carry up when he got home from work
They're almost as tall as me, and I'm on my tippy toes!
Todd was so excited to see them
Getting them unwrapped....
Todd showing off his new speakers

He spent most of Wednesday evening getting them set up and then listening to music. I will admit, they do sound pretty nice but the problem is where to put 2 speakers that are this big. Let's hope we eventually move into a house with more room!

Wedding #17 and the Ohio Wine Festival

On Saturday, Todd & I attended our 17th wedding together (yes, 17!...and that's in just 3 years) as Todd's friend from college, Keith, got married. Todd was a groomsmen in the wedding and Keith will actually be our Best Man when we get married in 39 days! It's hard to believe that this was our last wedding to attend before our own but I'm ready for our day to finally be here.

Ella & Keith being introduced as husband and wife

Bridal party table...Todd is on the second level, second from the right

The cake was absolutely delicious! Thank god Todd never eats his piece so I always get 2 pieces

Todd & I

Todd tearing up the dance floor like always

On Sunday, Todd & I went to one of my favorite events of the summer, the Ohio Food & Wine Festival at the North Market. There were around 15 wineries represented and despite the 90 degree weather, we enjoyed tasting several wines and walking around the festival.

Lots of cooking demonstrations all weekend but we went just for the wine

This SUV was covered with wine corks....I have no idea how they did it but it looked kinda cool

The event was pretty crowded and there were lots of thirsty folks looking for some chilled wine to cool them down

Enjoying a glass or two of my own

We ended up buying 2 bottles....we actually decided this ahead of time otherwise we would have walked away with an entire case

Afterwards, we walked to Marcella's and enjoyed a fantastic dinner

An appetizer of percorino cheese, honey, apple slices, and crostini

We shared our two main dishes: chicken parmesan and a meatball with fettucine

We had a great weekend but with less than 6 weeks to go until our wedding, we really need to get down to work and finish some of the last minute details.

Weekly Recap: July 4-10

I had a great week with my running, ending on Saturday with my first double digit run since the half marathon back in the beginning of May. This also marks the start of many early Saturday morning long runs while training for the Columbus Marathon. Todd & I ended up taking a week off from Insanity because he tweaked his back on the Fit Test on Monday and decided to take it easy to make sure it wasn't anything serious. We moved up to the next level of Insanity workouts and completed the first one this morning, Max Interval Circuit, and it kicked out butts!

Monday: 5 mi (8:03 pace)
Insanity Fit Test (25 min)

Tuesday: taught 1 hr Spin/TRX combo class

Wednesday: 5 mi (8:21 pace)

Thursday: taught 1 hr Spin/TRX combo class
4 mi (7:44 pace)

Friday: REST

Saturday: 10 mi (8:17 pace)

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning

TOTAL: 24 mi

Wedding #16

On Sunday, Todd & I went to our 16th wedding together. We only have 1 more to go next weekend until our own wedding! Another one of my good girlfriends from high school (and member of the Sexy 7), Katie, got married. Quite a few of my friends went to a camp called Camp Akita growing up and then became counselors and got involved in more leadership roles in college and beyond. Katie was lucky to met an incredible guy, Jason, at Akita years ago so it was only fitting they'd get married there. The ceremony was at Akita, which was about an hour outside of Columbus, and the reception was held in Columbus at Muirfield Village Golf Club (where the Memorial Golf tournament is held).

Arriving at Camp Akita

Their ceremony was at Vesper Hill and was absolutely beautiful with all the flowers

Katie & her dad walking down the aisle

During the ceremony....it was perfect weather!

Todd & I afterwards

Katie & Jason exiting as everyone blows bubbles

They even had Graeter's ice cream after the ceremony to help cool us off

The programs also doubled as a fan

We had about a 2 hour break in between the ceremony and reception so Todd and I had enough time to go home, freshen up, and change in time for the cocktail hour at Muirfield.

The tables & centerpieces were gorgeous

Loved the look of the cake!

View of the golf course scoreboard from the club house

Todd & I

A few of my best girl friends & I

Nathan & Lynn with their cupcakes

Megan & Brian

The food was delicious, the live band was unbelievable, the company was fantastic, and the newlyweds were glowing. It was such a great day and fun to hang out with all my friends at yet another wedding! 46 days to go until our big day!