10 on 10: Mermaid Edition

Mermaid: Kimberlee

A golden beauty in the distance. 

Obsessed with this gem for a reason. 

I would know.

Officially a mermaid.

Mermaids who brunch.

Parked at the palace.

Nothing finer than a forty-niner.

Sup, Sunday smiles.

Sweet dreams, mermaids. 

Linking up with Rebekah, you should too!

These Colors Don't Run...or they Do.

So, I don't have a bucket list.

But if I did.

The Color Run would definitely have been on it.

And on Saturday, I would have put a giant check mark through that box.

Chickety-Check-Check.

At the break of dawn, I picked up my sister Laura, and we headed up to SF.

Well, if you can call it that.

Candlestick doesn't really feel like San Francisco proper to me. 

For some reason I imagined doing this run along the Embarcadero.

However, it actually worked out nicely.

It was a gloomy, chilly morning. 

Plenty of parking.

Easy freeway access.

Low stress. 

After waiting in the car for about 45 minutes, 

Laura and I decided to brave the elements and find the starting line.

We just kept walking, and walking, and next thing we knew,

we were AT the starting line. 

Like the VERY, VERY front.

Eventually, more runners showed up, and formed a sea of white directly behind us.

The Color Run bills it self as the Happiest 5k on the Planet.

I am here to testify that it 100%, most certainly is.

After two different rounds of One Direction's You're Beautiful,

we had a 10 second countdown, and we were off.

Running for Color.

Each "k" of the 5k was a color station. 

Similar to the India Holi Festivals, there were Color Run volunteers there to make sure we got a lot of happy, powdery, colory goodness all over.

Pink was first. 

It was actually a bit more Orange than Pink. 

And I was too excited about color to take any pictures.

Also, I didn't get much color on me. 

There was a bit of a learning curve here. 

Yellow followed. 

Please scope this war zone. 

I think we're starting to get the hang of it.

The Race Course didn't go all the way around the park in a full circle, 

but it circled around most of it, looping back the way you came, back to the finish. 

From the top of the hill you can see the Blue and Pink Clouds of the Color Zones. 

We were blue-bound. 

At this point, people are crazy happy. 

And really going for it in the color zone.

Mostly I held my breath, tried to get streaked with a bit of color and got out of there.

Also, I always lost my sister in the zone.

Everyone looks almost identical.

All of the girls have their hair up.

Headbands.

Sunglasses.

White T-shirts.

It's actually kind of funny.

The Orange Zone was great.

It was in the entrance to the parking lot.

Where a bunch of cars had parked, far away from the start line.

But unknowingly close to the course.

And color zone.

Yes. 

People REALLY wanted to get colorful.

I love how Laura got marked.

I think this looks way cooler than the stop, drop, & roll technique. 

And next thing we knew, we were at the finish!

So happy.

So colorful.

Even the ground was pretty!

I think the post-race color party was my favorite part.

Fun music and fun people with super happy attitudes, full of color and endorphins.

Also, lots of freebies.

 Like, LOTS of freebies. 

Seriously, Happiest 5k on the Planet.

Perfectly advertised.

Who's coming with us next year?!?!

Weekend, Y U SO FUN?

I wish the weekends never ended.
This one especially.
So much fun jammed into two short days.

Actually, most of the fun was jammed in to Saturday.

Saturday morning, Ellen and I headed over to Coyote Point to participate in the 11th Annual Soul Stroll, advocating for African-American Health Awareness.
Or something like that.

Ellen participated last year, and gave it a raving review!
She put out feelers for takers for this years event, and I was more than game!

I picked her up bright and early and we headed over sign in.
We got a t-shirt, a bag, breakfast, lunch, the event itself, and when we were finished, A MEDAL.

We also got hooked up with some sweet swag from the vendor booths.

It's cool that you're jeal.

Thankfully, the Soul Stroll does a legit warm up sesh.
I'm talking electric slide.
I'm also talking zumba like warm up moves.
And some dance where you "lean" and then "wobble".
Everyone seemed to know it but us, but we just did our best to blend in.
We did not want to be busted for lacking soul.

Finally it was time to take off, and we were in the front of the pack.
We strolled our way along the bay, and opted for the 5 mile course.
Woot.
We got all the way to the end of the dog park, turned around and strolled back.

Best part?
The event included medals.
That is my rule for "running" events.
Must receive a medal.
Besides my Tiffany necklace from the Half Marathon, this was my first medal.
My other rule for "running" events is that participants must wear their medal all day.
Because, why not? And when else are you going to rep the bling?

We were stoked to be done.
Slightly crispy.
But blinged out.

Also, the local paper took our picture and names.
But....we have yet to become famous.

We grabbed our quick lunch, and then headed off to our next adventure.
We were taking Emily and Hayden to the Giant's game.

We loaded the car and headed off to the Yard.
As we were pulling into the parking lot, Ellen looked up from researching the day's theme, to find a gaggle of elementary school boys pointing at our car.
Yep. Half of her class was right next to us in the parking lot.
They followed my car as I parked, and before I even had the engine off they were swarming Ms. Steiger.
Growing up, I'd around town with my grandmother who has taught every kid in Belmont for the last 60 years, being approached by random kids - so this was no surprise for me.
Being approached by this many of them, a bit shocking.
Ellen handled it with grace and enthusiasm, and I'm sure they will be recapping the days events on the playground today.

We headed over to the main gate to find out about fedoras, and got offered to be on the pre-game show.
UM, YEAH.
We got our Authentic Giants Fan signage and stood behind the barricades.
See, this is us in front of the cameras.
Sadly, when it was our turn to be on air, this freak-a-zoid next to us kept putting his sign in front of Hayden.
I was about to throw down with him.
And pushed his sign away with my sign.
Grow up dude.
Let the baby get some air time.

Anyway, we were set, and Hayden has MAD sign holding skills.
Check her out doing it all by herself.

Emily is a rockstar mom, and found out that babies get a certificate for their first visit to AT&T park! We headed up to guest services and hooked up Hayden-boo.

Oh, and stopped for a quick photo op with our new lids.

Up to the Virgin America Club Level we went...
Inside a plane-scalator.

The game was awesome.
The first few innings went quickly with a 0-0 score.
And Hayden kept us entertained.
She was SUPER good at clapping along with the cheers.
And enjoyed all of the people watching.

The Giants got the birthday girl (Emily), Hayden, Ellen and I a win.
And I'm now on an attending the game winning streak.
Woo to the hoo.

Saturday was a blast.
Sunday required a LOT of catch up rest.

Also, there was an eclipse.
Which we really need to discuss here.
I was over at the Johnsons.
Standing at their front door, looking outside.
When I said,
"guys...something weird is happening. outside looks funny. the light looks weird"
And I think I got a few funny looks.
But then, other people started noticing it too.
And I was like "it's weird, like something is blocking the sun....like clouds...but not clouds....like an eclipse"
And then someone said, "oh, yeah, we are having an eclipse tonight"
To which, I replied "no way."
Total, 100%, disbelief.
I truly thought Jesus was coming back.
(I have thought the rapture occurred a few times before. Legitimately. It's kinda one of my "things".)
Clouds were about to be rolled back like a scroll, yo.

But no, I busted open the Google, and confirmed, it was just an eclipse.
How did I not know this was happening?
But more importantly, how weird, that I totally saw it happening.

Also, weird?
The little moon shaped shadows everywhere.
Take that PicFX bokeh filters.

Weekends like these make me wish every day was weekend.
That every day had soul strollin.
That every day were Giants win days.
And that every day was eclipse day.


The good news is, there are only 5 days left til the next weekend, and plenty more adventures to be had.

Linking up:

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InstaFriday: From 4s to 13.1

My 4s arrived last Friday, and hopefully,the pictures around here are a bit more exciting.

Snow White is out, and Snow White 2 is in.

That is her in the cute panda case.

I also had to get some panda apps to go with it.

Obviously, right?

 I mean, every iPhone in a panda case needs an app that just has random pictures of pandas, right?

Oh, and they painted my teal front door red. Could be better. Could be worse. 

Just don't get me started on the orangey-red railings. 

They're just plain UGLY. 

Also, Snow White 2 was present for the homecoming of her iPhone siblings Betty (White) and Big (Black).

Uh, yeah, I ran wogged a half marathon on Sunday.

Yeah, I'm still talking about it.

I say if I'm still in pain from it, I can still talk about it.

And show you my swag.

Since I am no longer "not-training" for a half marathon and trying to get runs in before dark (and by not-training, I mean doing a half with three weeks notice), I had time to do some actual cooking the other night.

Followed by some baking.

Don't hate, I ran wogged a half marathon, REMEMBER?!?!

PS, I call these my crack brownies. They are kind of hard to find. And not be confused with cheesecake swirl brownies. Which are not as hard to find. I may or may not stock up and hoard boxes of these in the back of my kitchen cabinets.But if you touch them, I will kill you.
If you're really lucky I might make you a batch.
I said might.

Somebody got her cochlear implant activated.

Or, as I say, beast mode activated.

Either way, she is super cute.

And does a mean bat impression.

 

Hope knows how to party.

You got it Hayden. It'll be our little secret. 

Linking Up With Jeannett: