Lately I'm Loving: Parks and Recreation

Adam and I recently started watching Parks and Recreation on Netflix. We are almost finished with Season 2, and I love this show.

NBC

I am originally from Indiana and spent two summers interning for local government offices, so this show hits close to home for me.

At the "topping off" of my hometown's new baseball park. Go Tincaps!

I love Amy Poehler, and she is as hilarious as ever in this show. Ron Swanson cracks me up with his deadpan delivery of every single line. I love that Ann and Mark are the only sane people in Pawnee. I'm looking forward to Rob Lowe joining the cast because I hear very good things about him. (Also because Rob Lowe is hot, obviously.) And I'm also looking forward to the park finally getting built. Please tell me that the park actually gets built?

Does anyone else watch Parks and Rec? Who's your favorite character?

Monogrammed Phone Wallpaper

It's no secret that I love anything monogrammed, so when I was recently searching for a new background for my iPhone, I wanted to feature my 3 favorite letters.

There were apps, free DIY downloads, or you could go the custom Etsy route. But the easiest route I found was a free customizable download offered by Wedding Chicks. You can choose from 16 different designs and customize each one with your initials and favorite colors.

I went with the vintage letters wallpaper, and now my lock screen looks like this:

It's so clean and cheerful. I love it! Plus, I know there are lots of other monogram junkies out there who might appreciate the tip.

What does your lock screen look like?

R.I.P., Smash

I am a big musical theatre nerd. I love musicals and spent many years performing in them. When I heard that NBC was going to make a TV show about Broadway, I was beyond excited. When Smash premiered last winter, I instantly fell in love.

Durance Magazine

The pilot was brilliant. Viewers got to look behind the curtain at the making of a musical and all that it entails. We saw the writers decide what they wanted to write about, producers trying to find investors, auditions for the actors who would bring the story to life, and all the personal drama that tends to happen in the theatre community. Best of all, the show featured beautiful original music from Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman, the team behind Hairspray. (Seriously, if you've never heard "Let Me Be Your Star," you are missing out.)

Season 1 slowly went downhill, but it was still enjoyable television. Then Season 2 happened. NBC fired the executive producer and series creator. They added several new characters and introduced a new musical. Too many things were going on, and all of the new characters were two-dimensional. Actually, a lot of the existing characters also became two-dimensional. My regular viewings soon turned from enjoyment to hate-watching. The ratings tanked, and the show was moved to Saturday nights halfway through the season. That was the kiss of death, and the executioner finally made his visit on Saturday with the official announcement.

So, RIP, Smash. I will miss you. I'll miss your musical numbers, the good and the completely ridiculous (remember the Bollywood number?). I'll miss the unprofessional, immature, ill-conceived actions of every single one of your characters. I'll miss group texting with my friends A and P while we all watched the show together. I'll miss the episode reviews from this guy. But most of all, I'll miss a decently realistic view of theatre on TV every week. It gave America insight into the world of Broadway, and I'm sure there's at least one kid out there who saw Megan Hilty belt out "They Just Keep Moving the Line" or the characters creating a new musical and thought, "I want to do that." So, thanks, Smash. You weren't perfect, but it was a good ride.

Gatsby Glamour

I'm not a big movie-goer, but I could not be more excited about The Great Gatsby. The novel is one of my favorite books of all time, and I can't wait to see what Baz Luhrman does with it.

Tomorrow, my friends and I are having a 1920s-themed girls day with fancy brunch at a restaurant known for its amazing cocktails, followed by a matinee with Gastby, Daisy, and the whole gang. I am a sucker for art deco design, so I want to dress up for the occasion, but I don't want look like I'm going to a costume party. Here's how I've imagined Gatsby for a new era:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

What are your plans for the weekend? Anyone else going to see The Great Gatsby?

Lately I'm Loving: Downton Abbey

For a while, watching Downton Abbey has been on my to-do list. I'd heard such great things about it, and I wanted to see what all the hype was about. Last night, I took advantage of Adam being on a business trip and decided to start Season 1. 6.5 hours later at 1am (oops!), I had finished Season 1.

Foobooz

Clearly, I liked it. I can't get enough of the intrigue, posh British accents, and gorgeous period costumes. I want to be BFFs with Mary Crawley and go to political rallies with Lady Sybil. The Dowager Countess cracks me up regularly with quotes like, "What is a weekend?" And then there are the characters that I love to hate. I can't wait to see what Seasons 2 and 3 have in store!

Is anyone else obsessed with Downton Abbey?

Indianapolis Mini Marathon 2013 Race Recap

Last June, I ran my first half-marathon in South Bend, and on Saturday morning in Indianapolis, I ran my second.

My goal was to maintain a steady 10:30/mile pace over the course of the race. I wanted to finish in under 2:20, and I'd hoped that I'd be able to finish in 2:15.

On Friday afternoon, Adam and I made the 3.5 hour drive down to Indy. We stopped by the expo to pick up my packet, and then grabbed a pizza dinner with our friend A in Broadripple. On Saturday morning, we awoke bright and early to perfect running weather: high 50s and overcast. We drove downtown and met up with my brother, C. He goes to college just outside of Indy, so he came in to cheer me on. What a nice brother!

Just before the 7:30am start, we observed a moment of silence for Boston, followed by the national anthem, and "Sweet Caroline." Then, we were off! I started my Garmin, so I'll recap each mile with my splits.

Mile 1 - 9:38: I started way back in Corral S. I probably should've moved up to a higher corral because the first quarter-mile was slow going. I jumped up onto the grassy median to get out of the scrum of runners and immediately spotted Adam and C.

I can't believe I'm putting this photo on the internet. Adam is a terrible race photographer. I think I'm complaining to my brother about how slow the people in my corral were and also trying to high five him.

After I passed them, I sped up to make up for lost time. I overcompensated a little, as you can see with my split of 9:38. Oops.

Mile 2 - 10:17: Trying to rein it in a bit. I fell in step behind a group of four girls who dubbed themselves the "Sole Sisters" and who were wearing neon green and pink. They seemed to be running at my same pace, so I used them as my pacers. This mile featured octogenarian belly dancers and a high school punk rock band.

Mile 3 - 10:27: I don't really remember much about this mile. I was just trying to maintain my pace. This mile featured renaissance faire enthusiasts in their full garb.

Mile 4 - 10:25: This mile started out with a misting station, which was awesome.

Mile 5 - 10:37: We ran through downtown Speedway, IN. That's right; I ran to a whole different town in this race! I took my first energy gel here because I was starting to feel a little tired. I ran ahead of the Sole Sisters right as we entered the Speedway, and they disappeared into the crowd behind me.

Mile 6 - 10:21: Holy crap! I was running on the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway! So cool! Oh, hi, IU cheerleaders. Thanks for coming out and giving me high fives and cheering for me.

Mile 7 - 10:29: This is the coolest! OMG I JUST RAN OVER THE BRICKS!!!! (I'm mad that I didn't stop and kiss them, like the Indy 500 winner always does.)

I'm too cheap to buy this image. $30 for one photo? You must be joking, MarathonFoto.

Mile 8 - 10:29: After running the full 2.5 mile loop inside the Speedway, we exited the track and headed back toward downtown. I was feeling pretty good, and was happy that I was right on pace.

Mile 9 - 10:40: Two of the Sole Sisters reappeared, but quickly passed me. At this point, I didn't care. I was coming down from my adrenaline high in the Speedway and was starting to fade a little. I knew that if I pushed myself to maintain their pace with 4 miles to go, it would be bad news.

Mile 10 - 10:43: I was really starting to feel fatigued, both physically and mentally, so I took another energy gel and gave myself a silent pep talk. I think it was the polka band, though, that really gave me the boost I needed to keep going.

Mile 11 - 10:26: At mile marker 11, I could see the downtown skyline just across the river, so I knew the finish line was getting close. I was right on pace with where I wanted to be, so I just told myself to maintain that pace, even though it hurt. Fortunately, my BFFs Carly Rae Jepsen, Ke$ha, and One Direction rallied with back-to-back songs on my iPod to help me along.

Mile 12 - 10:34: Ouch ouch ouch. I wanted to stop and walk so badly, but I knew my goal was within reach, so I kept pushing. I thought a lot about the marathon during miles 11 and 12. Hopefully I'll be able to make it through the training and the race because at that point, I couldn't imagine running another half-marathon on top of what I'd already run. We overlapped a bit of the course during mile 12, so the octogenarian belly dancers made a second appearance.

Mile 13 - 9:52: The course turned for the final straightaway. I knew the finish line was up ahead, and I knew that Adam and C would be somewhere along the road cheering for me, so I tried to pull myself together mentally and pick up the pace. For a few minutes, I thought I could still make my 2:15 goal, but with about a half-mile to go, I realized that I didn't have that much in me. I was struggling, but kept trying to move faster. About 1/3 mile before the finish line, I saw Adam and C. I gave a feeble wave, which was about all I could muster, and kept my focus on finishing strong, even though every thought in my mind was "Where the f*** is that finish line and why haven't I crossed it yet?!?"

Final .1 - 2:22: I must've done a lot of weaving around on the course because my last .1 mile was actually .25 mile. Finally, I put my hand over my heart for Boston and lunged across that finish line.

My final time was 2:17:18, a new PR by almost 16 minutes! I was soooo happy to be done. I grabbed a bottle of water and chugged half of it before a volunteer placed the medal around my neck. I met up with my cheering section, and we walked slowly back to the car.

I ran my first half-marathon with my friend E. We trained together and ran the race together, so to do it all alone this time was a totally different experience. I was really proud of myself for maintaining such a consistent pace over the course of the race. This race gave me some great perspective on how I want to approach marathon training, and a strategy for how I want to run that race.

Overall, I thought the Mini Marathon was a great race, and I would recommend it. The course was nice and flat, and it was super cool to get to run around the Speedway. There were tons of water and Gatorade stations (adorably called "Pit Stops") along the course, and one station with energy gels. Parking downtown was easy, and the expo was huge. The race features elite runners (the winners were from Kenya and Ethiopia), which is fun for spectators. My only complaint about the race is that the shirts were "unisex" (a.k.a. men's shirts). It always bums me out to get a race shirt that I know I won't wear because it doesn't fit me. But we did get hats along with our shirts, so that was nice. If you've never been to Indy, the Mini Marathon is a good excuse to go visit a great town. Maybe you'll even PR!

GPS Running Watches

When I first started running, I didn't care about how fast I was going. My race goals were simple: finish the race and don't walk. Now that I'm comfortable with longer distances, I want to start getting faster. To do this, I need to know how fast I'm going during my workouts. I've been using the Nike+ app on my phone, which is great for tracking my entire workout to dissect later. But it's pretty hard to check my stats in the middle of a workout when the phone is in my pocket or in a zippered compartment on my belt. A watch would make it much easier to track my progress in the middle of a workout, so I've decided that now is the time for me to embrace technology and jump aboard the GPS running watch train.

I asked for a running watch for my birthday, and Adam delivered (along with a subscription to Runner's World (for before the race) and perfume (for after). Loved the theme.). But I did plenty of research before deciding exactly which watch I wanted.

Amazon

Nike+ SportWatch GPS: Since I already use (and love) the Nike+ interface, the Nike+ watch seemed like the perfect watch for me. It comes in a whole bunch of cool colors - like bright yellow, black and bright blue, and white - in addition to the standard black. It displays all the necessary information (pace, distance, time) in big, easy-to-read numbers. However, the reason the numbers are so big is because the watch is gigantic. It's so big that it doesn't fit comfortably on my wrist. Also, it is really heavy. Unfortunately, these two factors led me to eliminate the Nike+ watch. If anyone from Nike is reading this, please make a smaller version of this watch for women runners! It's a great watch, but it's just too darn big.

Garmin

Garmin Forerunner 10: Garmin is the biggest name in GPS watches. It's so big, in fact, that a lot of people simply refer to GPS running watches as "Garmins." Naturally, I wanted to check out what Garmin had to offer. The Forerunner 10 is their most basic model. It displays time, distance, and pace. There's no heart-rate monitor, but I'm not sure I really need that anyway. It felt great on my wrist, and it comes in green! Always a major plus in my book. The reason I ruled out the Forerunner 10 is because of the pace it displays.

Running watches typically display either your current pace (how fast you are running right this second) or your lap pace* (how fast you're running your current mile). If you run a 10-minute mile, your current pace will rarely be 10:00 even. If you're running up a hill or feeling tired, it might slow down to 10:15. If you're running downhill or a good song comes on, it might jump up to 9:45. The average for the mile might still be 10:00, but your watch will show all the little variations in speed that took place over that mile. Your lap pace, on the other hand, will show your average pace over the current lap. You can set a lap for whatever you want (.25 mile, 1 kilometer, whatever), but the default is one mile. The watch will take the distance you've run and the time it's taken you to run that distance, and it will calculate your lap pace. Lap pace is great for racing because most serious runners have a goal time in mind. For example, if you want to run a 2-hour half-marathon, you know you need to average a 9:10/mile pace. When you look down at your watch, you want your pace to be as close to 9:10 as possible. If your watch only displays current pace, you'll probably spend a lot of time staring at your wrist and doing math in your head to figure out if you're averaging a 9:10 pace.

All of that is to say that the Forerunner 10 displays current pace. I would prefer to see lap pace.

Garmin

Garmin Forerunner 110: This watch is essentially the same as the 10, except it is compatible with a heart-rate monitor and it displays lap pace. It costs an extra $50, but I strongly prefer the lap pace display, and I like having the option to add a heart-rate monitor later. It's the same size as the 10, and it feels great on my wrist. Unfortunately, it only comes in black, but I'll take function over fashion in this case.

I took it out for its maiden voyage yesterday.

It took a couple minutes to connect to the satellites, which was a bit annoying, but I'm hoping that it'll get better. Other than that, it was great! I think my Garmin is going to be a great marathon training buddy.

*This post does a good job explaining the differences of current pace and lap pace if you're interested in a more detailed look.