Friday night fun

A long work week and Jamie's arrival clearly meant a Friday night happy hour was in order! A couple friends had mentioned a crazy deal at Maya in SoMa so naturally we had to check it out.

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From 4:30 to close, 7-days a week, they offer $5 drinks (margaritas and mojitos), $3 draft beers, $20 beer buckets (5 beers) and $2 tacos (petite). I think the tacos are by far the best of the deals. They're bite sized, tasty and arrive pretty quickly (the pork belly was my favorite). Unfortunately, getting around to ordering these delectable treats is quite a feat. Even after the big happy hour rush passed, we still didn't get much attention from our server (and we were a huge table of 10, mostly ladies). Not cool.

So yeah, definitely check out the pork belly tacos because they are amazing. Savory, rich and slightly tangy. Just don't go starving after work...you'll be waiting awhile.

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After a couple hours of waiting at Maya, we moseyed on over to District on King Street. It was a pleasant little stroll (much needed after 6 tacos, which btw, make a nice meal) and I was excited to check out a new spot.

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District had a strangely cozy, yet industrial feel to it and I loved the fact that it wasn't packed. A bunch of us grabbed a small table and settled in with a bottle of Siesta Malbec

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At first, I thought it was too fruity and heavy, but after another couple sips, it grew on me...very nice surprise.

Overall, a successful night of fun snack and drink finds!

My first DNS

Kinda embarrassing, but I didn’t run yesterday’s Bridge to Bridge 12k for one simple reason: I woke up late. Terrible, right? In my 5 years of running, I have not missed a race and I’m still kicking myself for the snafu. I have no idea if I hit 'off' instead of 'snooze' on my phone, or if I just didn’t hear it go off…either way, MAJOR fail. At least the registration fee went to a good cause.

I knew I needed to get at least one run in to break in the new kicks

Me likey the new color :) I was a little worried that I wouldn't get these in time, but as soon as I laced these puppies up, all was well in the world again. I love fresh cushioning! Now, what to do with my other 3 pairs...o yes, we're back to this again. Anyone know of places in SF that take old running sneakers??

I also dated them...my new sneaker process.

I took a windy loop around the neighborhood before running errands. Not quite the same as racing a 12k, but I’ll take it. On the race week agenda: Tuesday 5 miler w/the running group, maybe a short n' speedy Wednesday run, and an easy 2 miler on Saturday...just to get the legs moving.

This DNS was a fairly appropriate way to close out yet another week of firsts...

First time I realized a speedy run can be comfortable

Tuesday's 5 miler was another speedy one and I felt amazing afterward. I was in the zone and felt like I was running strong (well maybe not at the end when I was too nervous I'd trip on my own two feet since it was so dark). All this time I've been sticking to my cruising pace...I had no idea I had a speedy side that was itching to bust out!

First Giants game

Wednesday night I went to my very first Giants game...

Amazing seats. I don't think I'll be able to go to another game. I've been spoiled. Hahaha. Also, I found out that they serve amazing caramel corn at AT&T Park.

Warm, gooey, buttery, AAAAHHH!! SO GOOD!

First knife purchase

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Hi new knife!

I've been sitting on this WS gift card since I moved so when I got an email saying there was a sale on Wüsthof Classic knives, you bet I zoomed out to get one.

It's not my first Wüsthof knife, but it's the first I've purchased on my own. My o so favorite santoku knife was a gift from Jamie. I went into the store with the intent to buy the 6" chef's knife, but when I compared it to the feel of the 8", there was too big of a difference not to upgrade. The 8" just felt right (that's what she said har, har, har). Plus, why would I get a shorter knife than the one I already have?

I'm content. Best. Purchase. Ever. And yes, I'm THAT excited about a knife.

First stew-y/to be frozen and eaten later kitchen adventure

It had to be done sometime (recipe is at the end of this post)...

I was craving some Japanese curry and I figured what better time to make it than oh, you know, a Friday afternoon. That's just how I roll.

It's been awhile since I made a batch and I was worried I didn't have a pot big enough, especially with all the nuggets of deliciousness I planned on putting in it. Thankfully my pot didn't overflow and it was a successful curry afternoon. This version used a couple ingredients I had in the apartment that desperately needed to be cooked: Japanese sweet potato, mystery box carrots, kabocha squash, and (the not so perishable) frozen peas. Delish.

First time out on a Friday night (you know, out out)

I met up at a friend's for dinner before we all went to a going away party. *Note: I also had my first Morningstar Farm Chipotle Black Bean Burger and I LOVED IT.

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I think I just love all bean-y foods. It was nice and spicy, filling and had a great texture. Definitely recommend it.

The going away party was at a very interesting (to say the least) bar called Kozy Kar on Polk Street. I say interesting because there are booths/seating areas set up like the back of a van and the floor is lined with naked photos. It's kinda like the bar fell out of a scene in Boogie Nights. Very random.

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Anyway, it was a wallet-friendly bar from what my receipts tell me and cans of PBR were all over the place. I don't think I've ever seen so much PBR before!

So that was my pre-race week week of firsts. This week I'm taking it easy, getting lots of rest and taking a preemptive strike against germs. Yeah, my office is full of sickies right now and with my luck, I'll catch something this week. Ech. Oh, hey Airborne, NyQuil and water...my three best friends.

Kitchen Cabinet Curry

3/4 to 1 lb stew beef

1 tbsp flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 kabocha squash, chopped

1 japanese sweet potato, chopped

1 3.5 oz package S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix, medium hot

1 1/2 tbsp oil

2 c water

3/4 c chicken broth

1/2 c frozen peas, defrosted

2 bay leaves

Sprinkle flour, salt and pepper over beef to coat. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a 3 quart pot and add beef. Brown beef and scoop pieces onto a plate, leaving oil and brown bits in the pot. Add 1/2 tbsp oil and saute onions for 1 minute. Add squash and sweet potato and cook for 3 minutes.

Pour in 1/2 c water and cover for 5 - 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once root vegetables start to soften, pour in the remaining liquid and bring to a boil.

One by one, stir in the sauce mix blocks until they are fully incorporated.

Add bay leaves and peas, simmer for at least 20 minutes.

Serve over rice. YUM!!

Dang!

I haven't posted since Monday. Woah. I am happy to report that I managed to find motivation the following day :) Instead of rushing over to the Marina Green for the scheduled 2 mile group run, I opted to run my flat office route...until I realized I forgot my access card. D'oh!

Since my home is on top of a hill, I decided to walk down to flatness and run until the timer on my phone went off. Seemed like a pretty good idea. 30 minutes later, I had completed exactly 3 miles...a pretty rough 3 miles. Yeeh. Dinner was leftover couscous salad (hooray for eating all my leftovers this week!)...exciting, I know.

Wednesday's run was MUCH better. I left my office and did the same timer thing (15 minutes, turn around, 15 minutes) and almost made it to 30 minutes, except the stupid light changed on me :( I got home, mapped my run and turns out I did 3.23 miles. In 29 minutes. O hey!

My run must have been an indicator for how the rest of my evening would pan out. I got home by 7 and knocked out some laundry and cleaning. I even sorted my recycling bin and broke down a bunch of boxes! Talk about productive ;) I also made a random quick dinner: Ghetto Tempeh & Swiss Sammich.

There's a whole lot of yellow going on in that picture. I sliced up my block of tempeh and spread some Nando's Peri-Peri Garlic Sauce on each side before baking.

Toasted up some bread, a slice of swiss cheese and a generous smear of my favorite mustard:

Dinner was served in no time.

Was it good? Eh, not really. It lacked greens and flavor. I ended up digging through my fridge for something to dip my sammich in. Sadness.

Since I had 2 slices of tempeh leftover, I made a similar sammich for Thursday's lunch subbing in hoisin sauce for the mustard. I crossed my fingers that it added enough flavor to keep my tastebuds happy.

Again, flavor fail. Belly was full and happy though! Happy all the way through my last group run...a whole MILE from the Marina Green to a bar. Haha. I love my running group. To justify changing clothes, having to shower, and rushing out of the office, I tacked on a little more for an even 2 mile jog to the bar.

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At the Final Final in the Marina, I had a wonderfully balanced dinner consisting of a Racer 5 IPA and bowl upon bowl of free popcorn. Hey, they were addictive! I also chatted with fellow runners and managed to find a potential new long run buddy. Hooray :)