That's pretty RAD

Yesterday started with me hating the world with having to deal with the time change, but ended on a high note. Mondays are always pretty busy at my work and I was determined to get out on time, so I worked through lunch and sped through as much as I could so I could rush home, get in a quick two miles with Libbie and Jake (!), head to a RAD class with one of my girl friends, and then make it to a Bachelor watching party to end the night.

It was so beautiful here yesterday that I was even able to convince Jake to go on a quick jog. He'll run with me on nice days and running with him and Libbie has to be one of the best things ever. Between commenting on the weird colors people paint their front doors to Libbie having stare downs with every squirrel we pass, it's pretty entertaining.

I picked up my friend after that and we headed to our first RAD class. RAD stands for Rape Aggression Defense and teaches self defense and safety to women. Last night was 3 hours of classroom training but the next 3 classes will be in a gym for physical training and simulations. I'm sooo excited! Jake has been wanting me to take a self defense class forever now and when I found the RAD class (and a friend to go with), I knew it would be perfect. The class fills up fast but is free to VCU students and only $10 for anyone else.

I'll do a more complete evaluation once I finish the program next week but I think as a woman, knowing self defense may not only help if God forbid it ever needs to be used in a real life situation but also instills a sense of confidence and independence to rely on one's self.

Last night focused on safety tips and precautions. Some of the one's that stood out to me were:
-If someone knocks on the door, you don't (and sometimes shouldn't) answer it, but you should make it clear that someone is in the house. You can turn your TV or music up, shout "Hey Johny, get the door" (even if there is no Johny and no one gets the door), etc. If a robber knocks and thinks no one is home, you run a higher risk that they make try to break in.
-If you are a girl living alone, it helps to deter criminals if they think you live with a large male or dog. You could buy a large pair of men's work boots to keep by your door, get a beware of dog sign, put a large dog bowl outside your entrance, etc

I left feeling not paranoid, but more informed and safer for the knowledge I gained. After class, my friend and I rushed to catch the last half of the Bachelor with some other girl friends. We made good use of the commercial breaks to fill in everyone on safety tips ;).

On another note, I won my Bachelor office pool by picking Catherine! Woop woop!

Today, I woke up hating the world a little bit less for the time change, collected my $20 Bachelor winnings, and the rain cleared up in time for me to take Libbs on a 4.5 mile run after work :) Bring it on, Wednesday!

Weekend of Richmond Stuff

I'm one of those people that needs to be out of the house during the weekend. Weekdays after work is another story but once 5pm on Friday rolls around, I need to be doing "stuff" until 8pm on Sunday in order to be productive and not drive Jake crazy in the process. With the awesome sauce weather we had (60s!) I definitely wanted to take advantage of it and made Jake do so as well, because that's what all good wives do.

Friday was girl's night dinner at Akida which has some of the best sushi in Richmond. It looks like kind of a hole in the wall but their Dragon Phoenix Roll has a special place in my heart.

Saturday included a run with the Libster (almost 4.5 miles again..) and then a stop at Which Which. I'm kind of digging their make your own sandwich on a bag but it's a little too tempting to put crispy onion straws on everything...

After that, Jake surprised me with a trip to the Richmond Metro Zoo which was pretty sweet especially considering I thought I was  in store for an afternoon consisting of Jake's favorite weekend activities: Call of Duty, mopeds, and bourbon. 

This scary Emu welcomed us...

 

Luckily Jake knows how to make friends and all went well after the food piece offering. Food is the best way to start all friendships. 

 

I helped with the birds under 6ft tall.

 

And who wouldn't want to take this guy home? 

 

So sad I couldn't take any of the animals home, we turned to alcohol :) Hardywood hit the spot and diverted my attention away from why we couldn't adopt the cute baby monkey.

I tried their new Chocolate Heat which was pretty good. It wasn't too heavy for a dark beer and I could taste the chile peppers but not so much the chocolate.

 I have been excited for Sunday since it combined my two favorite Sunday activities: brunch and open houses. We got bloody marys and omelets at Joe's Inn which was super cheap and delicious.

  I've been dragging Jake to open houses for the past five years so I gave him a break and went with some friends who are actually in the house market and don't want to go just to guess prices and look at funny ways people decorate their houses. Crazy right? When we are ready to buy, I'm going to have years of house hunting experience so it's justifiable.

 I'm so good at spotting those red signs. It's on my list of skills. 

After I got back and finished telling Jake 43 new things that our future house "must" have, we took this cutie to Bandy Field.

 Pizza was calling my name so we hit up Mary Angelo's which is always a safe bet. 1/2 meatball for Jake and 1/2 black olives for me :) Tomorrow is going to be a lonnnggg day but I have some exciting stuff planned.

Runs with Dog

 Ever since college I've been into running. No, not marathon running. More like "I have 30 minutes to kill and will go for a quick jog" running. I would always get seriously bored around mile 3 and call it quits. Fast forward a few years later (and a few pounds later) and I'm forcing myself to get over my 3 mile itch by signing up for the Monument 10K and a possible 1/2 marathon in the fall -  if I don't kill myself in the process.

Am I doing this alone? Nope.

Is it with this guy...

 

Nope. He started laughing when I asked him if he would ever run more then 2 miles with me. I knew this X-mas morning shot would come in handy for situations like this though :)

 

Instead, I recruited some one that would totally be exited about every run, no matter what. The same applies for squirrels, but whatever.

 

Enter Libbie. My favorite running partner.

We've been building up our endurance and are up to almost 4.5 miles and I'm feeling less freaked out about the looming 10K. I seriously almost threw up after I first signed up. Progess.Our run was extra stylish today with different colored socks. Mix matching without choice due to laundry piling up is totally trendy.

Third Time's a Charm

While I was between jobs a few years ago I started a blog:  Cinna Spice Nice. It was mainly about food when I was going through a "baking phase". I even had a quarter life career crisis and started Small Batch which was my attempt at a baking start up. Fail. Baking 300 hand decorated cupcakes for my sister in-law's wedding marked the end of my said phase to say the least. (Think 3 months of stress followed by a panicked all nighter and hand cramps that lasted a good week.)

Anyways, I took a break from blogging but missed it so here I am again... for the third time. Over the past year, a few things have changed. Most importantly, the cutest pup ever was adopted.
                                                   

She grew..

and grew...

and grew :)

                                             She pretty much rocks. Sheds alot, but rocks.

                                                          We also moved from here:

To here:

DC was fun for a few years, but I don't miss the traffic, rent, bar prices, or creepers on the metro.

While our "community involvement" looked like this in DC:

 I have high hopes we'll have some more time and more incentive in Richmond to get some more activities under our belts :)