Food for Thought

I'm getting worse and worse at this blog thing. I don't know if it's my new job that's keeping me so busy, or the fact that when I do get a chance to play on my Mac, I'm on Pinterest all night (which I'm obsessed with btw). So where have I been the past the month? Branding. My company just went through a large rebrand project and what was formerly called Mondial Assistance, is now Allianz Global Assistance. I worked on the project for 18 months, overseeing the HR division's rebranding efforts. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun. We launched on February 1.

After the brand project, I treated myself to a trip to NYC. John was in Denver for work so he flew into the big city from there. My best friend Brian and I took the train Friday morning and got into town that afternoon. We attended my high school's (Collegiate) alumni reunion at the 21 Club that night and then went to the Hurricane Club for dinner and drinks. Saturday included all day shopping and walking around, but also a trip to the 9/11 Memorial downtown, which was bittersweet. 9/11 was a very influential event for me - I was a senior in high school and while I was already into international history and politics, I ended up majoring in foreign affairs at UVA too.

After the memorial, we went to a place called 10 Degrees for cheese tray and drinks. The cheese was delicious and the sparkling wine I ordered paired perfectly. Then that evening we went to another amazing dinner at Alta. This place had the most amazing Spanish tapas food I've ever had. Fried goat cheese, pork belly, black squid ink paella, and so much more. I got to see my college roommate and close friend Jen, who took us out on the town. It was really a great trip - Can't wait to visit again.

So to continue with the food theme for this post, I'll move on to a few new recipes and restaurants. My next post will be about this spring's race season, but for now, the winter season brings about food for thought:

I found an easy recipe for chicken tacos, and of course changed it up to chicken fajitas instead. The recipe calls for 1 package of chicken breasts (1lb), 1 16-oz jar of salsa and a packet of taco seasoning. My recipe was similar except I used a packet of fajita seasoning instead, and I added chopped onion and red/green peppers plus a can of black beans. Throw it all in a crockpot for 6-8 hours on low or medium, and viola - Chicken Fajitas! It's SO easy, the chicken just shreds apart perfectly after cooking all day, and you just dump the mixture in tortilla shells for an easy meal.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I recently made a steak salad recipe that I have been wanting to try after my trip to Florida last November. At the club restaurant in Gulf Harbour, they have this steak salad with walnuts, gorgonzola, mushrooms, etc that is absolutely to-die for. I order it every time I go. I've been looking for something similar here in RVA, and I've had luck at both Brio and Delux (both have great steak salads), but also decided to re-create it from scratch the other night. I pan-seared a ny strip steak with salt/pepper, and then re-created the salad with spring mix lettuce, chopped asparagus, portobello mushrooms cooked in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and of course fresh crumbled gorgonzola. I forgot glazed walnuts, which I will definitely add next time for crunch and sweetness. It was so easy to make and pretty healthy considering I used no dressing other than the olive oil/balsamic vinegar I cooked the mushrooms in. Toss the steak on top and dinner is ready!

And moving on to my last food expedition... I recently went to Peter Chang's new restaurant here in the west end of Richmond. This guy is talked about as a food legend and almost god-like. I felt inclined to go after all the talk. It was excellent Sichuan food too! We had to try the fried pork belly basket to start, which as you can see, presentation was excellent. Everything was tasty and service was super friendly. I'll definitely be back to try the hot pots for dinner.

Now that I've ranted about my last 4 weeks, maybe I'll try to write more often and less content... too much goes on when you are having fun!

Adventure Racing 2012

As some of you probably noticed, last year was the year of the "adventure race." This new trend has been around for some time, but it didn't take off until just recently. My first adventure race was only 2 summers ago when my roommates and I signed up for the Filthy 5K Mud Run featured in Dominion's Riverrock weekend here in RVA. Now there are hundreds of adventure races all over the country, and of course one of the most renowned races - Tough Mudder - one of the most challenging.

But this year isn't about conquering the toughest adventure race or surpassing some type of endurance goal. No, my resolution was to try new races and new workouts to keep up with my fitness standards. Which is why I want to share with you a few new adventure races that I will be participating in this year. Time to get down and dirty all over again...






One of the first new races of the year is called Hero Rush. It's a 5k+ firefighter-inspired obstacle course race full of ladders, poles and lots of fire. I'm a little nervous about this one, but I think I can do it. Plus, I get to pretend I'm a firefighter for the day. Event better, the event supports the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, a national charity that supports the families and fire departments of fallen firefighters. I always try to sign up for races that support a good cause and this one is one of my favorites.


Hero Rush is offering a DC-Maryland area race on April 28th this year. To sign up, go to www.herorush.com and register. Sign up before February 3rd to beat the price increase!!! I'll be there with my game face on!

The next adventure race I signed up for is the Mud Warrior. Thanks to Livingsocial, I was able to snag a pretty cheap race ticket to this 8k military-style obstacle course race. Supposedly this one is like a "mini Tough Mudder," plus it's in mid-April near Charlottesville, VA, so I imagine it will be quite chilly. Again, this is another race that supports a good cause - the HOPE Foundation, that helps to fight poverty and reduce homelessness by building stronger and better communities. It's also local - based out of Charlottesville, VA, my old college stomping grounds (wahoo-wah!!!). Check it out... and sign up for the race while you are at it.

I look forward to participating in these events. Any new adventure is worth it to me and I can't wait to conquer two new adventure races this year. I also plan to race the Merrell Down and Dirty 10K mud run since I signed up for it last year and then skipped it due to a back injury. So technically it's a "new" race for me. Fingers crossed I don't miss out again this year!

New Year, New Resolutions

Finally, the holidays are over and I'm back to a normal schedule. No more holiday parties and baking loaves of pumpkin bread. I just got back down to my normal weight that I've maintained for the past 2 or 3 years, thankfully. All is right with the world. 

So what's next? I conquered Tough Mudder, passed my PMP exam, completed 14 races in 2011 (2 more than my original goal) and migrated to a full-time apple user with my new mac book air and iphone 4s (thank you John!). It was a good year and I'm very pleased with my accomplishments. What made the end of 2011 even better is my new years promotion at work! I'm now a Project Manager / Process Engineer in Human Resources at my company.

So now that it's 2012, I need to set a few more goals. When I list resolutions, I really means goals. I think that word sends a better message. Goals are more motivating to me and I tend to stick with them, plus they can be super small and repeated. So below I've listed my goals for 2012. Hooyah!

1. Become proficient in my new role. While I have managed many projects in my career, leading projects that really make a business impact is what I want to achieve. I want to be comfortable with PM terminology like it's the back of my hand, and become meticulous with my documentation by using the right tools. I am nervous of the unknown, but excited to take on the challenge.

2. Try new workouts and races. I've already signed up for a "barre" class and I bought the living social deal to Crossfit here in RVA. Two new things already on the list for 2012! I want to continue trying new things when it comes to physical activity. For the past several years I've been a consistent run/bike/swim and weight trainer. I threw in a few Bikram Yoga classes here and there, plus a SEAL team course, but that's about it. I also want to sign up for new races. I didn't get into the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler unfortunately, but I signed up for a "mini Tough Mudder" race in Cville for April, plus I plan on racing Cville's 10 miler too.

3. Discover new recipes and restaurants. I'm the type of cook that throws everything into a pot and hopes for the best. I love discovering a new meal just by mistake. But I also need to try a few new recipes too. Everyone knows I LOVE to go out to eat but this year I want to try new places. I went to Roosevelt down in Church Hill before the new year, so that doesn't count. I want to try Pasture, Kenn Tico, Stella's, and Ironfish for sure. There are so many more - thank god there's plenty of days in the year!

I'll leave my goals at that for now. I noticed my "new things" theme when writing this post, hence the title. There will be plenty more I'm sure. So with that, I wish you all a Happy New Year and good luck in your goals as well!