It's a Beautiful Day!

Yep, I'll quote U2, I'm cool with that. It was seriously amazing in Chicagoland today, especially considering it's Jan. 8. This time last year, we made bargains with each other about who would take the dog out next, because it was so gross outside. This year, we gleefully hit the trails of Busse Woods for as much running as we can handle. But first, I had a playdate with Kate's daughter. Naperville Photographer Kate, who took my headshots a couple of months ago, had a baby last month. He is super adorable and a great sleeper.

I got up early today, made myself my favorite breakfast of a toasted whole-wheat English muffin, peanut butter, flax and banana. I picked up Kate's older baby and we hit McDonald's. Kate's kid went up and down the stairs for a solid three hours and was not happy to go back home, but I think her parents are kind of attached to her, so I returned her before a lunch date.

Because it was so nice, I got a car wash so I could finally put the sticker Tim gave me for Christmas on my car. It looks HOT. I look forward to getting a 26.2 sticker for Christmas next year. I wish it stuck to the plastic parts of my car, but it looks good where it is.
We didn't make it out to the park until about 3:30, and because I'm a little out of practice distance-wise, I could only knock out 4.4 miles at an average pace of 8:47. After I cooled down for a bit, I tried to finish a mile as fast as I could. I made it .85 miles at a 7:44 pace (awesome!) but couldn't finish the mile. My heart rate was at 99 percent of my max, so I probably couldn't have finished it. Better luck next time.

We ended up walking to the car in the dark and saw at least a dozen deer hanging out. They're loving this too.

When we got home, I made his and hers green smoothies with spinach, strawberries, banana and a shot of OJ. I'm not sure if Tim liked his, but mine was awesome.

Check back tomorrow for all the details of the awesome lunch date I had. Hint: It includes the best Middle Eastern food I've had domestically.