A Refreshing Saturday

Saturday morning we were up early again for our training.

This week training took us to the hills of Griffith Park. I was a touch nervous as I drove through the park. Lots of hills, lots of people, and 6 miles of running ahead of me. The week before my Saturday run of 4 miles had not gone well. I had a great week of training with Seth, but 6 miles sounded like a long way.

As I said before, if you push through what seems difficult, and push through the wall you think you can't pass, it turns out it isn't as hard as it once looked. I am proud to say that I ran the entire 6 miles without stopping. And better yet, I felt GREAT! I spent the run listening to Alicia Keyes, thinking about my looming 30th birthday and spent time praying for some dear friends who are going through a difficult time. I felt for the first time that I was in "the club." That insiders league of runners, with the small nod, lift of two fingers and a breathless "morning." It felt good to feel strong. Each week I run further than I have ever run before, and this brought tears to my eyes on yet another run.

We spent the afternoon hanging with Seth's sister who was in town for work. It was a chilly day in Santa Monica, so we opted for indoor activities vs. hanging pool-side. Lunch, massages, drinks on a beautiful patio, it was a refreshing Saturday.

May Recap

May was a fun and, as always, a very busy month for the Caskey's. Seth was busy with work, classes and securing those last two blessed vouchers that now make him SAG elegible (cue hallelujah chorus). The most fun for me in May was my friends coming to visit the west coast.

B's Visit
Barbara - or B - came out to LA for a visit. B and I worked together at Simply Selma's as cohorts in shopping crime. We laugh constantly at our own sarcastic comments, and in all have a fantastic time. I took her to every corner of this city! We went to tapings of "Til Death" and "Ellen," hiked Runyon Canyon, and shopped in Old Town Pasadena, Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. In between there were lots of margaritas, sangrias and glasses of wine, as well as a couple stops at some of LA's best cupcake shops. Actually, I made B run down 3 blocks in Brentwood so we could get to Susie Cake's before it closed (and yes, their cupcakes are that good). The star sighting of her journey was DL Hughley, who sat behind us at one of my favorite breakfast spots (Jumpin Java). He has an amazing smile, and a very bold pair of red and black plaid pants. It was a fantastic week, and made me remember how much I love & miss this friend.


Shan & a very cold San Diego
Just before Memorial Day weekend, my very dear friend from high school - Shannon - was in San Diego for a conference. So, I took the train down to spend the day with her. It was a strangely freezing (low 60s) and very overcast day in beautiful sunny San Diego. Since neither of us had a car there, we relied on public transportation to get us around. I wasn't quite on my navigation-A game. (Hey, it's been awhile since my semester abroad.) Long story short, after about 20 minutes I realized that we were on the tram headed to Tijuana, not Gaslamp Quarter. It was absolutely wonderful to spend the day with a dear friend, just talking, laughing and catching up on life. We ended the night with one of the best martini's I've ever had. Our visit was short, but so much fun! So thankful to have her in my life still. Shan, has it really been 15 years?

Seth & I get to play!
Finally, Seth and I found some time to do fun stuff together. In mid-May, we made it up to The Getty Museum. The view alone was amazing! We browsed through a few of the galleries, but were most taken by the incredible view of the city. The Getty hosts free events & concerts once a month on Friday evenings. We went to an improv/comedy/cirque-de soleil-esque performance. It was highly entertaining. And a very fun evening.

Views from the Getty


View to the West


Seth looking east out over his city. Oops! I didn't realize he was in the shade.


North West above the 405


I loved the view of the ocean. If the 405 wasn't involved, I'd want to live in Santa Monica.


This city isn't really that big.


Got to Get Away

In the end of May, we were able to sneak away for a few days. We headed up the 101 to Ventura. Many people asked us - "what's in ventura?" Not a whole hell of a lot. But, that is exactly what we needed. We read and slept in the sand, had some local brews, went to wine tasting, invented a martini at a little bar and just relaxed. We ended our trip with a run along the beach and lunch at a cafe on the harbor. It was a delightfully relaxing weekend.


Ventura Pier


Post Beach Nap


Sad to see the weekend end.

Also, in May we started training for a half marathon - you can read more on that in the blogs below. But I can't sign off this blog without mention our furry child. He had a pretty good month too!