Girls Night Out in Annapolis with the Loews Annapolis Hotel

Last week I was invited to a night at the Loews Annapolis to have a holiday night out. It was Midnight Madness in downtown Annapolis and the perfect excuse to have a fun, festive, casual night out. I’ve been to many events at the Loew’s and it’s definitely a favorite venue of mine – from the Junior League of Annapolis Galas to the Zooma Expo, they always put on a fantastic event. The staff is always super friendly and the rooms are beautiful with local-inspired decor. If you ever need a place to stay in ‘Naptown, I highly recommend.

I’ve been to many events at the Loew’s and it’s definitely a favorite venue of mine – from the Junior League of Annapolis Galas to the Zooma Expo, they always put on a fantastic event. The staff is always super friendly and the rooms are beautiful with local-inspired decor. If you ever need a place to stay in ‘Naptown, I highly recommend.

The evening/afternoon started with Glam Sessions – I got my hair curled (of which I am now obsessed with but haven’t quite figured out how to replicate it). They also had makeup (mainly eyes with some false lashes!) and nails that you could get done as well. I did my own makeup though my nails look like garbage but I replied late so was only able to score a hair appointment.

GNO with Loews Annapolis

I left shortly after my hair was done to get changed into my cozy, festive casual outfit for the evening – ready to hit the town. (As much as a 30 something working mom can and wants to hit the town…)

holiday casual outfit

{Pants | Sweater (old, similar) | Plaid Shirt | Necklace | Shoes (old, similar)}

Prior to heading out to Midnight Madness, we started with cocktails and appetizers at Baroak – Teddy Folkman’s restaurant in Annapolis – which is DELICIOUS. We had mussels, flatbread pizza and some charcuterie on the appetizer side…

Baroak annapolis cocktails

…and some (delicious) specialty cocktails – a white sangria with cranberries and a white rum punch (that I did not try but heard delicious things about!). They have an exceptional menu (mussels and frites anyone?!) and the beer menu isn’t terrible either. If you have not been, I highly recommend.

After cocktail hour, I headed downtown with Liz to check out a couple of the shops, snowflake alley and meet up with some other Naptown pals of hers. We ended up at Dry 85 and had a couple of drinks before Ubering back to the hotel because holy crap was it FRIGID to walk the four or five blocks back (even though we walked down there).

The night ended back in the Presidential suite at the Loew’s with gift wrapping. I got the couple of gifts that I picked up wrapped, I’m a good wrapper generally, but this lady was AMAZING. I’ve got enough to wrap at home, so it was nice having a couple to get wrapped fo’ freesies.

I was back in my room at a halfway decent hour and crashed watching HGTV. It was a really fun night for sure. Thanks to Loews Annapolis for hosting and for putting on such a fantastic evening.

FTC disclosure: I was provided an overnight stay, however, I was not compensated for my honest review. All opinions here are my own. 

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Summer bucket list

Each summer, I get wistful about making it the BEST. SUMMER. EVER. Filled with beachy weekends, tons of outdoor hosting at our house – you know…summery things.

Most of the time I fail, because well, life. But sometimes, we get a big fat win – like last year when we spent a couple of weekend days at the beach (though our anniversary trip was a rain out which was a bummer), or the summer I was pregnant with Ethan we got to go to Ocean City with one of my best gal pals and we finally (nearly 10 years later) made it to Seacrets.

So this year, we kept our bucket list short – I’m up in Vermont for a bridal shower this weekend, Adam’s National  Guard training is taking him out of the country for 2 weeks at the end of July, and then my sisters wedding the weekend after he gets back…our summer is already half filled. But what we put on here should all be fun, small ways to make the most of the rest of our summer.

summer bucket list

Go to an outdoor concert

There are so many free concert series around us in Annapolis or Crofton – even in Baltimore, how can we not make it out once to listen to some live tunes?! Definitely need to pencil that in once or twice this summer. The Friday night series in Annapolis is one of my usual go-to’s and they do the same thing in Crofton on Saturday nights. 

Visit a splash pad

My dear friend Lexi recently turned me onto a splash pad in Ellicott City which isn’t super far from us that I would love to check it out with Little Man 🙂 In addition to this one just west of us, there are apparently a handful of others fun water parks and splash pads in the greater Annapolis/Baltimore area. 

 

Go to the beach

Each year, we try to make it out to the beach once or twice – usually for day trips. This year, we’re heading out to Dewey in September for my triathlon but I’d love to get out there once before the end of the season.

Visit four new ice cream places on the MD ice cream trail

Though none of these are super close to us (1 – 2 hours away) i think we can do some fun exploring and really come down on the debate of who has better creemee’s – Maryland or Vermont (Ima go with the 802 on this one friends but please let me know if you beg to differ).

Have a date night at the Annapolis “Dinner Under the Stars” 

They are apparently closing off a portion of West Street for some dining al fresco – I love eating outdoors and since this is going on until October, I’m sure Hubs and I can find a Wednesday night to get a sitter and have a fun date night.

Go hiking

A few years ago, pre-baby, we hiked up Old Rag in Virginia. I miss hiking, it was something I did somewhat regularly when I was in Vermont. While Little Man won’t be scaling stone walls or going up rock scrambles like Old Rag any time soon, I’d love to check out some of the family friendly hikes in the area like Calvert Cliffs, Patapsco State Park or Gunpowder Falls to do some hiking as a family.

What is on your summer bucket list friends?

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Friday Five: A Lot of Life Edition

I survived my first full week back as a working mom. I did miss my play group on Wednesday, and I did miss the whole leggings bit but…small price for the benefits. I (somehow) landed in my dream job at a boutique marketing agency in town and I couldn’t be happier – more on this all later. In short, it was the right opportunity at the right time. I had said when Ethan was born that I wanted to go back to work full time for the right opportunity, not just any opportunity and this one was perfect.

So I’m jumping on the Friday Five bandwagon because I want to write and I have so much going on, so let’s just outline it in five happy bullet points:

Friday Five

1. We’re moving! Finally. I mean, we could have stayed where we are for another year or so but it was getting too tight and no matter what we said or did, we were never really going to purge anything. So we started casually looking using a realtor and will be moving in the first week of March! We’re super excited to have a yard, a bigger kitchen, and a 3rd bedroom – of course this also means more to baby proof. But we’re moving to the other side of town – closer to my office and downtown so yay! And good news, is our place is already rented out for end of March so we really need to get a move on. Packing…is going slow as of now so I’m trying to make a little bit of progress each night from here until the 6th when our movers come.

2. Working. As I mentioned, I went back to work. The childcare search has been hell to say the least. BUT we found a solution – two part time solutions to be exact which is good enough for now. The day care I wanted to get him into has a waiting list so long that they’re not accepting any more people. I think we’re going to put him on the wait list for 2 year olds. Things I should have thought of about seven months ago. Harrrumph.

3. Which brings me to the fact that baby will be a year old in a month. !!!! Where did the time go? I’ll have his 11 month update on Monday or Tuesday (tomorrow is his 11 month birthday) so there’s that. Trying to get the move ready while simultaneously plan his birthday party – which is going to be low key but i’m struggling with the invitations – is making me cray-cray. I know, I know, I KNOW. They’re just invitations but have you seen the sheer selection of first birthday party invitations on Tiny Prints, SimplytoImpress or Shutterfly?! SO MANY. Color me…overwhelmed.

4. I’ve been binging. Not with food, though my eating habits are not great as of late, the whole adjusting to work thing is a killer. Rather with a touch of online shopping. A new pair of jeans (11 months later I finally am going to stop wearing my uber comfy gap maternity jeans), a couple of new work tops, and a new pair of knee high boots that *fingers double crossed* will hopefully fit.  I’m addicted to fashion blogs at the moment, specifically ones that focus on “mom fashion” (Hi Get Your Pretty On – love her!) so if you have a favorite budget fashion blog, please share! I blame them on my latest little online shopping binge.

5. Looking forward to…a night out with my mama pals tonight. I’ve been out of commission for two weeks and now back to work so I feel like I’ve missed them as far as socializing goes. I’ve not been as social as of late due to whatever plague we’re all getting over over here. The other morning Ethan’s conjunctivitis came back like a damned banshee – oy. Needless to say it’ll nice to be out to socialize and catch up. 

What’s going on with you freaders? What’s keeping you busy these days? 

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Happy Friday!

Here’s the dealio kids. I have a serious post waiting to be posted. It was ready to go up today, well, almost ready, I’ve had a rough week, and the fact that the weather has been absolute crap hasn’t helped anything. That with a few developmental milestones, means cranky baby + cabin fever = mama about to go out of her mind.

But then, amidst the cold week and gray weather I got a fun email.

Congrats! You have been selected as a 2014 ZOOMA Annapolis Ambassador.

ZOOMA Ambassador Badge 2014

Huzzah!

This is one of my favorite races in the area, and despite the snafu’s last year, I’m super excited to run it again this year. It was my 10k PR the year before I got pregnant, and then my first race post pregnancy. Call me a loyalist

{from the archives – 2012 – a 10k PR}

Of course there were other perks to this otherwise blah day, and blah week…

*My favorite mama’s on the play mat and I scheduled a mom’s night out for a couple weeks taking our friendships to a whole new level that isn’t constantly interrupted by totting babies who enjoy terrorizing the mall at our weekly playgroup.

*We had not one but two awesome play dates this week. Any play date that has delicious 4 layer dip and Dunkin Donuts munchkins is really a win. I know they don’t go together but they were my lunch yesterday. Don’t judge me.

*I tried Zumba. I had always wanted to try it but I’m like a robot when it comes to my grooviness unless there’s no fewer than 2 alcoholic beverages in me. But spin class was full by the time we got there and I dropped Ethan off at childcare. Zumba on the other hand had only a handful of people, and they were just finishing the warm up so I jumped in and had no idea what I was doing but I had fun.

*Junior League happy hour tonight. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for my pals in the league, they keep me grounded, lift me up when I need it and generally are an amazing bunch to hang around. Tuesday night after our board meeting a few of us sat around finishing off some wine chatting, and tonight, there’s a Happy 2014 Happy Hour over at West. Hubs is dropping me off so I don’t have to worry about driving. Huzzah!

If you’re interested in Zooma, stay tuned, I’ll have a snazzy discount code for all you Life in Pink readers and I’m looking forward to doing some training runs and events around Annapolis in the coming weeks and months leading up to the May 2014 race!

Have you ever been a race ambassador? Have you run a Zooma race? 

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2013 By the numbers

I should have posted this yesterday, but blogging has been tough the past couple weeks. With traveling, the holidays, a family stomach flu, you know the ish that holidays are made of. All in all, 2013 was a very good year with ups and downs. We are truly blessed.

Here’s 2013 by the numbers:

Nine months since Ethan was born. Nine months of growth, laughter, love and tears. Nine months since our lives were forever changed. Pretty incredible how time flies.

Eight races ran. Zooma 10k, Womens 5k, Travis Manion 5k (baby’s first race!), Army 10 miler, Ripley 5k, Junior League 5k, and the Girls on the Run 5k.

Seven Trips North to visit family in CT and Vermont. Two trips to Vermont, five to CT including a baby shower, a pseudo-babymoon, a baptism, visiting friends from over seas and two holidays celebrated with family.

Six months of nursing. Wasn’t quite what I wanted it to be but we made it six months which is a massive accomplishment.

Five days before my due date, was Ethan’s scheduled date.

Four different jobs between the two of us. It’s been a tough year employment wise – my part time job position was eliminated right before Christmas so now I’m debating between ramping up my freelancing versus going back to work full time or part time. Tough call. Thankfully, despite Adam’s position being eliminated at the end of October, he’s starting a new gig next week that we’re thrilled about.

Three years since we moved to Annapolis – don’t regret it. Love this town and the friends we’ve made. We are very blessed.

Two steady freelance writing gigs for two publications in town.

One happy family. We are so blessed with Ethan and he has been the highlight of the year by far.

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Giving Back

I could have gone out shopping with my sister last night. But decided not to. The principle of the matter. I used to work on Thanksgiving way back in the day and no matter what age you are, it still sucks. I am so against shopping on Thanksgiving for so many reasons.

I get the other side of the argument, but as I heard on the news which I think sums up why it’s not the best way to increase retail sales – my Christmas shopping list doesn’t grow just because stores are open up on Thanksgiving day. This doesn’t magically change how much money I’m going to spend over the next three weeks. Give people the day off, it’s one day, no one needs performance fleece or a flat screen television so bad they can’t wait another eight hours.

So while you’re out shopping for your loved ones, try to give back this holiday season.

I’ve been doing some form of community service since I was a young girl in the Girl Scouts, and later National Honor Society when I had the privilege of dropping off donated boxes filled with Thanksgiving dinner to half a dozen families in my hometown who otherwise wouldn’t have had a dinner. Talk about humbling.

Fast forward to now a days with  my work with the Junior League and as a coach for Girls on the Run.

I love giving back to my community – teaching young girls to be confident in themselves and how to always look for the best in people. I love being a part of the Junior League – an organization that has such a profound impact in our community – teaching women how to be self sufficient, and working with high school students form non-English speaking backgrounds and giving them fun opportunities they may not otherwise have.

This holiday season, give back.

Donate to a food pantry. It’s so easy – bring $15 to the grocery store and see what you can buy – that’s like skipping Starbucks for three days and you can pick up a few items (even healthy ones!) at your local trader joes to drop off.

Find a jacket drive. We recently held a coat drive at our recent Junior League GMM, one that goes to helping out a shelter provide for those who would otherwise be cold in the winter. Hubs and i hadn’t worn most of these jackets in a few years so it felt good to give something warm to someone needy while also freeing up space in our closets.

Donate to Toys for Tots. Toys for tots are everywhere around the holidays and it’s super easy to pick up an inexpensive gift for a kiddo that would otherwise not have anything. Or, find out what toys your local hospital’s children’s ward needs – I bought a lego set on sale for a Lego drive for the children at the pediatric cancer ward at Hopkins when I saw someone was collecting for them in our weekly league email blast.

Find a family. A lot of churches do angel trees where you can adopt a family and pick up gifts for them for the holidays. It’s an easy way to give back with lots of reward – especially when little kiddos are involved.

These are just a few ways – but there are so many ways. Make a meal for a local shelter. Donate blankets to the local NICU. Give money to your favorite local non-profit. There are so many ways – so many little things you can do that have such a big, big impact.

How do you give back to your local community around the holidays?  What organizations do you support?

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Fall Bucket List: Navy Game Tailgate

Last weekend i knocked another item off my fall bucket list – one of a few, and probably one of the only ones I’ll get around to since my weekends have been jam packed.

But my pal Kelly invited us to a tailgate with her, her husband and a couple of their friends. The tailgate was organized by the Knights of Columbus  – it just so happens that Adam is a knight, but he’s been a bit MIA with his MBA classes that happen to fall on the nights they meet.

The tailgate was tons of fun. The KoC had a tent right on Taylor Avenue and the Mids marched past as they walked into the stadium.

navy football midshipmen

We scored pretty awesome seats for the game – right in the end zone about two rows back from the field.

Navy football game No zoom here!

We stayed until half time but Ethan was starting to get too chilly and cranky so we bailed early and finished watching the game at home. It didn’t help that he didn’t have much of an afternoon nap but Adam and i were getting too cold too so we were happy to skee-daddle.

navy football game

Here are my tips to surviving an outdoor sporting event with a baby

Dress for the weather. We were all bundled up but we should have brought a blanket – as the sun started to go down it got chillier than any of us were prepared for. Ethan had a onesie, a sweater and a fleece. He had on a hat and a hood, and jeans and socks. He’s prone to pulling off socks so next time we might put him in shoes – but I read somewhere that shoes are bad for babies not actually standing yet which he’s just kind of sort of starting to do…so it might be almost time but wasn’t as of this past weekend.

Use a carrier. Strollers are not stadium friendly. I don’t care what type of stroller you have. Between stairs, and narrow rows. There’s no room for it. We used the Tula and it worked awesome.

Be mindful of where you’re sitting. Our section – though a great view – had some pretty obnoxious dudes behind us. Definitely not kiddo friendly. Next time I’d get Standing room tickets for the grassy knolls on the other end of the field and bring a blanket. Also, if your babe gets cranky, just take them out of the stands for a minute. My pal’s baby girl got a bit cranky so she walked with her, and when Ethan got cranky, we decided to bow out.

Have your gear accessible. Bottles, diapers, blankets, hats. Make sure you don’t leave it in the car. I left something in the car, I don’t remember what it was, but even though we parked across the street it was still a pain going back for it. We had a bottle in the bag, and plenty o’ diapers as per usual. My bad habit is stuffing my diaper bag so full that I have to pull everything out just to find the formula. Fail mama bear. Faiiilll.

Ethan was a bit more interested in the game or at least thats what I tell myself. Well, him and I both were more so than hubs so there’s that. I love football games, I’m trying to get Hubs on board to be a Navy Football fan (what? They’re the home team!!!) but he’s National Guard which means he’s all Army. Even though quite frankly he’s not really into football. It’s cool though, Ethan and I will be Navy fans (except when they play Army). Any other sport though, it’s all Northeastern. Hockey. Basketball. No questions asked – my Huskies are my number 1.

Mission: baby’s first sporting event overall? Huge success.

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Fall Bucket List: Visit a Pumpkin Patch(ish)

Autumn Bucket List: Visit a pumpkin patch

I had been on the prowl for a pumpkin patch/apple orchard for a while because it’s one of those autumny things I grew up doing, but haven’t done in quite a few years. Now that we have Ethan, we’re more likely to go do more family friendly things (never mind the fact that he’s barely seven months old and has no idea what’s going on) than say, go to Rehoboth to drink all day at Dogfish Head which would have likely been the case a few years ago. So, a couple weekends ago one of my mama pals was rounding up the troops to make a trip to a pumpkin patch. We picked Larriland Farms out in Howard County and met up after morning nap times were through. Even though there was fewer of us than we anticipated it was still a really fun day.

Despite the hour long trek from Annapolis, it was so worth it.

Larriland Farms is a vast farm that allows you to pick your own of whatever is in season – this particular weekend they had tomatoes, beets, apples, pumpkins, and a few other things. However, we did not pick our own because:

1. The pumpkin patch is actually up the road. By the time we were done kicking around, feeding babies, changing explosions, and feeding ourselves (they had a fantastic food bar and apple fritters cooked right in front of you) we didn’t want to risk melt downs. We’ll be going back for that.

2. The apples were over the river and through the woods. Okay that’s an exaggeration but we did have to drive to the far side of the farm (a good couple of miles), repark, get baby out of the car seat again, reattach him to the Tula, and blah blah blah. You get it. #alloftheparentingwoes. (I kid. I kid.) That being said, one of the moms who met up with us hit up the apples and said a lot of them were relatively picked over or something like that. So we decided to skip.

3. We didn’t feel like it. There. We just didn’t feel like it. I mean I did. Kind of. But Hubs was concerned about hitting Ethan’s limit and being out in a field and then having him become like a bear which he does if he does not get a nap right at the moment he needs it and making our hour long drive home hellish because he’d be screaming the entire way. It’s happened before – I’m looking at you MommyCon.

That being said, they did have plenty of pumpkins, apples, and other gourds and fruits pre-picked that we grabbed at the end of our excursion.

I really loved that the farms had fresh food – we had apple fritters – delicious and omg. So much powdered sugar. One of the mamas with us is dairy free and they even whipped up a special batch for her on the spot which was super awesome of them. Kudos to the bakery!

We hung around, contemplated where to go next but then the babies needed to eat.

Then we got food – they had a little stand set up with some bratwurst, hot dogs, and the like – I had a hot dog and Adam and I shared some sweet potato fries that I’m fairly certain were among the best that I’ve had.

ethan goat

 Ethan saw a goat. So that was fun.

Then like I mentioned, I bought allofthegourds. Seriously – acorn squash, spaghetti squash, baking pumpkins, and mini pumpkins. All of them. Adam had to stop me from buying more/any jams/jellies/apples/allofthethings since lord knows it takes me two weeks to follow through on recipes I want to try. My only complaint – and this is the Vermonter in me because I grew up in a town that had a place called the Apple Barn – is that this autumny day trip was missing cider doughnuts (though we did get a half gallon of apple cider that was ahhhh-mazing).

Alas. It was a fun day out at the farm. It’s a perfect day trip from Annapolis/Baltimore or DC. Free to visit, plenty of parking and if you want to pick your own pumpkins – they’re up the road on the left when you’re heading back to the highway. Check the website to see what’s good (I wish I had known that before we went out there) and be prepared for farm awesomeness.

Larriland Farms
2415 Woodbine Road
Woodbine, MD
http://www.pickyourown.com/

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MNO: 1747 Pub

A couple weeks ago right after I got back from South Carolina, the Plum Moms Group rocked my world again with another amazing Mom’s Night Out.

This time, it was at 1747 Pub, formerly known as Sly Fox Pub, in downtown Annapolis. I was always a huge fan of Sly Fox prior to it closing shop. The outdoor space is really the best in Annapolis in my opinion, so while I’m bummed that Sly Fox shut down, I’m so glad Reynolds Tavern kept it up with 1747 Pub

Since I had had dinner before going out, I ordered an appetizer – Fried Green Tomatoes. Really, you can’t go wrong with fried green tomatoes – one of these days I need to get my nana’s recipe that I pray she has written down somewhere. These were pretty amazing – they were topped with shrimp and corn. The shrimp was cooked in a chipotle cream sauce that was perfectly complementary by adding a touch of spice to this Southern classic dish.

fried green tomatoes 1747 pub annapolis

They had a small, but decent beer list but the wine list seemed a bit more comprehensive than beers.

A few nights later, I wanted to enjoy the outdoor seating while we still could. The happy hour at 1747 is from 3-7p so Adam and I popped over on a friday night for a cheapie dinner off the apps menu and a couple of drinks. We were pretty pleased with our finds – including the bratwurst and Natty Boh for $6.

Another awesome find? Grilled, buffalo corn on the cob. Granted you only get one ear for $4 which is absolutely a rip off considering you can get ten ears of corn for $4 at whole foods (Cheaper at Giant!) but trust, this was well worth it.

Was so yummy. I don’t even like buffalo flavoring since I find it often has too much of a kick for my liking (I’m so anti- super spicy it’s not even funny.). I ordered the fried green tomatoes again, because I stick with what I know and while the happy hour menu is tasty, it’s not super expansive.

The thing that I loved most was the laid back vibe – just like it was when it was formerly Sly Fox, the laid back atmosphere was just perfect for the perfect fall evenings I was out during. Monday night with the mom’s group there was trivia (I so want to go back for that) and Friday night when Adam and I went (much earlier) there was live music on tap (as well as a beer stein holding contest sponsored by Sam Adams….random).

1747 is also awesomely baby friendly especially if you go earlier – happy hour, not busy, and plenty of room for strollers to be rolled up. Ethan was in a surprisingly good mood and even made some suggestions off the craft beer list.

So if you’re in Annapolis – definitely stop by 1747 Pub – they have heaters keeping the outdoor space going into the colder months (well, since they’re new who knows but Sly Fox used to keep them going and threw a baller New Years Eve party…so I heard). In the winter months, they have the indoors pub downstairs from Reynolds Tavern which has fireplaces and hidden back bars. I haven’t been during the week but on the weekends, it’s a raucous good time!

1747 Pub
7 Church Circle
Annapolis, MD

{Curious about Reynolds Tavern? My book club previously went there for tea one afternoon!}

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Race Recap: Annapolis 9/11 Heroes 5k

This weekend was perfect running weather. I really should have gotten more miles in but I didn’t and I’m kicking myself now but we did get a lot done around the house and we ran our first family 5k. I was so excited to get Adam and Ethan running with me in this race – we ran the 9/11 Heroes Run in Annapolis at the Naval Academy stadium.

I chose this race as our first family 5k for two reasons – close to home and it was the day after Adam’s 2 year enlistment anniversary. Not to mention the Travis Manion Foundation is a great organization and half the funds go directly back into the community. For Annapolis they went back to the Annapolis Fire Department to fund some scholarships.

The race it self was great. They had a great presence and it was so awesome seeing all the midshipmen and other military families. I sometimes have a hard time saying we’re a military family but even though the National Guard isn’t Adam’s full time job, there’s always that chance that he could be called up to deploy and then we’ll be just as military as the Navy or Air Force families that live down the road from us.

We stayed toward the back since the first 3/4 mile or so was a bit narrow on the Naval Academy Stadium trail. There was a lot of people for a narrow space and it was definitely a bit bottle necked – even towards the back of the pack.

The course was a bit hilly as we hit mile 1 in Admiral Heights neighborhood – there was a decent chunk of shade to be had here and there through the next couple miles which helped considering it was 85 degrees outside but there were no water stations which seemed a bit short sighted on the race organizers.

We finished strong though. Adam pushed the stroller through the first half and we switched off around mile 1.5 and I pushed the rest of the way.

They did have a solid after party with some bbq sandwhiches from Mission BBQ (yum!), tons of water, bagels from Naval Bagels, and beer from Dos Equis. Thanks to my pal who was manning the booth and hooked me up with two beers. I needed those carbs.

time: 36:03
age group: 22/41
overall: 392/527

Not too shabby for pushing 50 lbs of stroller in 85 degree heat. Definitely not my fastest race but Ethan and I will be setting our own 5k PR’s separate from my solo 5ks.

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