Happy 50th Birthday Ellen - Halloween Style!

This is a big year for my parents. They all celebrated their 50th birthdays this year. Back in March, my mom and I threw my dad a surprise party that was a huge success. My dad and I knew we had our work cut out for us when planning my mom's surprise party. She is clever and would smell this coming a mile away. We knew right away that we needed to have it either before or after her birthday. How to disguise it though, without tipping her off. That was the tough part.

My dad enlisted the help of family friends Bob and Cindy Kurziak. He had Cindy call my mom and tell her that she was having a Halloween party and needed help decorating. It was 2 weeks after my mom's b-day, so it seemed like a good cover. In the coming weeks, I realized that the plan was genius. My mom had no idea and was excited to attend the costume party.

A week before the actual party we threw my mom a dinner with 11 of our family members. This was the 'fake' and it worked perfectly. We were all set for the coming Saturday - the room was secured, the food order was in, guests were confirmed. It was going to be perfect.

As the week went on, several surprises developed due to circumstances. There were 3 surprises that my mom would be faced with on Saturday.

Surprise 1: The party, of course!
Surprise 2: My brother Mike was being flown in from Tulsa
Surprise 3: My sister-in-law and niece were coming to town and neither my mom, myself or the rest of the family had seen Kassidy yet.

I finally settled on a costume - Smurfette! Thanks to my friend Dana, I had the greatest Smurf hat EVER! Only my brother and aunt knew about my costume, so it was going to be fun for all. We did ask that everyone attending show up in costume since Ellen would be dressed up. I wasn't sure how seriously everyone would take that, but as you'll see from the photos it was a smashing success. I feel so lucky to have such a fun, crazy and loving family.

I arrived at the hall on Saturday and began to get all the decorations set and the room together. Aunt Janet and Mike showed up shortly after that to help. Then the guests began arriving. I still had to get into costume and be ready for when my mom would arrive.

Since pictures speak a thousand words, I thought I would add a bunch of photos to the post and let you see for yourselves what a great party it was. My mom was completely surprised and everything went off without a hitch. The food was great, the music was fun, the costumes were GREAT and meeting Kassidy was the icing on the cake. It couldn't have been more perfect.

California on Fire

Usually I write with the intention of entertaining. Today, I write to pass on information. As many of us who pay attention to the news in some form or another know, southern California is on fire and it's not good. Unusually strong Santa Ana winds and extremely dry conditions have caused these fires to spread rapidly and without regard for what's in the way. Over 1 million people have been evacuated, homes and businesses have been lost and firefighters are working 'round the clock to attempt to get things under control.

My brother and his family live in San Diego near Camp Pendleton. On Monday my sister-in-law and niece were evacuated from their home. Fortunately they were able to get far away from the fires quickly. I am very comforted knowing that they are safe. My brother is on a training mission in Arizona (he's a marine) and has been unable to be with his family during this difficult time. We still don't know what has happened to their apartment, but given the gravity of the situation and how close the fires are to Fallbrook we are assuming the worst. In one month, our whole family is headed out to San Diego to spend Thanksgiving together. It looks as though we may be spending the holiday helping them rebuild their lives. That holiday will never mean as much as it's going to mean this year.

I also have several cousins and friends living in Southern California. Everyone is safe and following directions from law enforcement when it comes to evacuation. It's reassuring to know that so many of my friends and family have been able to escape danger.

Please keep all those in southern California in your thoughts. A lot of support is going to be necessary in the coming months.

An evening with Sean Michael Dargan

Last Saturday evening, I had the pleasure of enjoying an evening with Sean Michael Dargan. SMD is a well known Madison musician. I can't quite explain his style of music. It's a little bit rock, a little bit folk, a little bit alternative....I'd sum it up as 'Feel Good' music. No matter what SMD plays - whether it's his own music, a cover of an Elvis Costello tune or a little Richard Thompson - he leaves you with an amazing feeling. Saturday at Fyfe's was no exception.

I've been watching SMD for the last 2 years. I first discovered him with BJK at the Kimia Lounge in Madison. Who was this guy with crazy hair, a bow tie, suit and big shoes rocking out on guitar? It took us a few weeks to really get into his music, but once we really listened to it we were hooked. Since then we've seen him at Brocach, the High Noon Saloon and the Crystal Corner. Each venue brings something a little different. A new side to SMD emerges each time.

Sometimes he brings his 5 piece band, sometimes it's the guitar trio and others it's just SMD and his acoustic guitar. No matter which version of SMD shows up that evening, the core of his music and what he brings to the table comes shining through. I wish I could bottle up the feeling that I get while watching his show and live off of that every moment of every day. SMD in a bottle...now that's something I could sell.

Throughout the last 2 years, BJK and I have also gotten to know a bit about SMD personally. He is a very engaging and down to earth guy. The same energy that he brings to his music is evident in how he talks to and listens to his fans. I get the feeling he considers his fans more than fans. He considers them friends. Knowing SMD beyond his music also makes his original music more meaningful. You start to learn the stories and the inspiration behind the songs. It's not just music anymore - it's life.

Fyfe's is a local restaurant with some dynamite food. Unfortunately it will be closing for good in just about one week. The lease is up and it's time to move on. SMD showed up to play one last show. He did not disappoint. The bar area was packed and buzzed with conversation the entire evening. As you looked around the room, you could see people engaged in the music, tapping their feet, bobbing their heads...it was another great evening with SMD.

I introduced my friend Wes to his music this last Saturday and by the end of the evening, I think he understood why I acted like a giddy school girl before SMD took the stage. I knew what was in store for us. I knew how great the show was going to be and as usual, it lived up to and surpassed my expectations.

After the show, we stopped by to say farewell and get the scoop on his next show. The SMD trio will be playing in Stoughton on December 14th at Stella's and SMD will be joining the Kissers on December 7th at the High Noon Saloon. How lucky - 2 weeks of SMD back to back?! If I could just bottle it up and take it home...at least I have a little SMD on my iPod. I can get that 'feel good' feeling anytime!

For more information and the latest tour information, check out: www.seanmichaeldargan.com

Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My!

It's always something when you run with Peter Nelson. Even though Ironman training has subsided and I'm in a 'do whatever' phase, Peter and I still get together once a week for a run. Usually, it's a torture session for me. You see, Peter, he's fast. And me, well, not so fast. Usually I'm complaining about something on our runs. My 'insert body part here' hurts or the weather 'insert expletive word here'! You get the picture.

We originally were going to run on Wednesday evening, but Peter is heading to Montana on Thursday for a wedding and had some errands to take care of on Wednesday. Like the good running buddy and friend that I am, I rearranged my life to accommodate Peter and moved the run to this evening. With all my complaining on our runs lately, I owed Peter one.

We decided to meet at 630pm, which meant our entire run would be in the dark. We also opted to run from Peter's house to the arb, through the arb and back. This meant we'd be running in the dark, creepy arb - complete with tall, scary trees and all sorts of random creatures. Sounds like fun to me. Let's do it!

We set out from Peter's house heading up Mineral Point road towards campus. Right away, we were greeted by a nice long hill. Nothing like a hill early on to upset your rhythm. My legs felt great, but I just couldn't get my lungs to catch up. About 1.5 miles later we entered the arb. The arb is covered in trees and has an abundance of wildlife. I've never run through it in the dark before. This would be an interesting experience.

You might be thinking - running in the dark? Are they crazy, stupid or both? I'll let you have 'crazy', but stupid, not quite. We were using the buddy system for safety, as well as sporting a head lamp and a crazy red blinking light with reflective clothing. I would NEVER run through the arb at night without a running buddy. I'd be spooked and have nightmares for months.

Running in the dark is a unique experience. Your eyes are constantly adjusting to the changes in light and any small movement in the surrounding area seems to catch your eye. Immediately upon entering the arb, I picked out a person walking a few hundred feet ahead of us. It looked as though that individual were walking a dog as well. As Peter and I passed this person, we realized there was no dog. I had just hallucinated an animal. No doubt this would be an interesting run.

There were a remarkable amount of cars driving through the arb at that time of night. I'm not sure where people were going or coming from or why they were back there. I mean, it's dark. You can't see anything. It's not a through street and there's no place to stop off for an ice cream or gas. Peter and I were both a bit surprised at this.

We also saw a few bikers along the way. So far though, no animals and only one other runner (in full reflective gear). We were about to get out from under the tree cover when I noticed some movement a few hundred feet ahead of us on the other side of the road. I knew something was running, but I couldn't tell what it was until it was about 50 feet away. It was another runner, dressed in black, with no reflective gear and an ipod. I think it startled Peter a bit...

I think we were both secretly happy we hadn't run into a deer, a turkey or a car full of teenagers. Smooth sailing so far. We got out of the arb and headed through Vilas park. We made the turn behind Edgewood and were very happy to see that they had just repaved this section of the arb. It's a known to be a pretty rough section of the route where you really have to watch your step. Fortunately, we didn't have to worry too much about our footing. What we did have to worry about was the two bright, beady eyes staring at us about 50 feet ahead. Do we stop? Do we go? And what is it? Even though we were both thinking these things, neither of us spoke up. We just kept running, hoping whatever it was wouldn't go for our ankles as we passed.

Raccoon! He (or she) saw us and bolted for a tree. Peter and I talked about wondering how the raccoon would react to us. Peter said 'I don't have to be faster than the raccoon. I just have to be faster than you.'. Remind me not to run in bear country with Peter.

We finally turned past Edgewood and hooked left onto Monroe Street. We were able to turn off our lights as this area was well lit. Our run had been fast so far. I'm not sure if it was the darkness that heightened our senses and made us run faster or we just felt good. Either way, we had been hauling butt for a good 7-8 miles at that point. I slowed it down and it felt good. A nice 2 mile cool down back to Peter's....

That's how it went in our heads anyways. We still had to climb Glenway. Glenway is quite possibly the longest, stupid hill in Madison. It's steep at first, but then levels off to a more gradual grade. On the way up the hill, we saw two wolves and a man wearing a Badger jacket. Ok, so they weren't wolves (siberian huskies), but it makes the story more fun, doesn't it?

We made it up the hill, I took a quick breather and we continued going uphill on Mineral Point. This is where we started talking food. We were both hungry and dreaming of dinner. You'll do anything to entertain yourself when things are hurting and you are tired. We crested the hill, flew down the other side of it and reached Mecca...or Peter's house. Again, Mecca sounded more exotic and increased your enjoyment of this recap, I'm sure.

Some stretching, a few glasses of water and recapping the run for Kathryn and I was out the door, surviving yet another epic run with Peter.

So maybe we didn't see Lions, Tigers and Bears (as the post title may suggest)....but I hallucinated a dog, we played chicken with at least 10 cars and a raccoon, Peter lost his wallet twice, we stealthily ran past a couple of wolves and dodged a few crab apples in the homestretch. At the end of it all, we lived to tell the tale. And, we were fast.

Another reason to love Apple and the iPod

Recently, I decided to turn my iPod on to the 'Shuffle All Songs' mode. I thought it would add some spice to my daily listening habits. I typically get sucked into a certain genre or artist and play those songs to death before switching to something else. I figured this new approach would keep it fresh and help me remember why I have over 3000 songs on my iPod to begin with.

I started this little experiment last night and have to say it was quite enjoyable. Some songs I passed through and others I listened to thinking 'Wow, haven't heard this song in a while'. Then there are the songs that make you laugh. You don't laugh because the song itself is funny, but because you wonder how or why that song ever ended up on your iPod.

This morning was a perfect example. As I was leaving Barriques after ordering my usual Earl Grey tea, a 'classic' came on the iPod. Nothing like a little 'Ain't nothing but a G thang' by Dr Dre and Snoop Dog to get your head bobbing like a gangsta at 8 in the morning. I think I laughed the entire way to work.

Gotta love the 'Shuffle All Songs' mode on iPod - it's like a little window into what makes you who you are. Still trying to figure out what the Snoop Dog song says about me. Any theories?

Satisfied in Seattle

My latest trip to Seattle had been a long time coming. It'd been 4 years since I last visited this gorgeous Pacific Northwest city. College friends, Fred and Pranali, have called this city home for at least the last 7 years. For the first few years they lived in Seattle, I came and visited every Memorial Day. My last trip out was in 2003.



Since then, Fred bought a house, Pranali started her PhD and I got a new job. Life happened! One of the things I'd committed to after completing Ironman was to travel more. So, less than 1 month after the big event, I headed for Seattle to spend time with dear friends and enjoy this great city.

Friday
Friday was my travel day. I wanted to avoid having to take two days off of work, so I arranged to fly out at 6:30pm on Friday. My friend Cory picked me up around 4pm. We went and enjoyed a few margaritas and some nachos prior to heading to the airport. The bartender made our drinks pretty strong and I was already buzzed when I boarded my flight to Minneapolis.

I arrived in Minneapolis with a little over 2 hours to kill. All I wanted was to sit down, have some dinner and a glass of wine. The margaritas had worn off already, what can I say?! I dragged myself throughout the terminal trying to find somewhere that wasn't insanely busy to have dinner. I finally settled on Axel's Bonfire where I had a delicious veggie pizza and a few glasses of wine. I also met an interesting character at the bar. I'm guessing he was about my age. His name was Nick and he's a sculptor. I'd never talked to a sculptor before. He sculpts extremists doing everyday things and then has them photographed - quite interesting. If I can dig anything up on him, I'll post it on my blog.

My flight to Seattle took off and landed without incident. We did have a bit of turbulence on the way out to Seattle, but nothing that left me rattled. My luggage made it one piece and Freddie was right on time to pick me up. I stepped outside the airport and was immediately happy to be greeted by COOL weather. Fall - FINALLY! I had to travel nearly 2000 miles to get it, but Fall had finally arrived!

We headed back to Freddie's new house in Kirkland, chatted for a bit and went to bed. It was late and there was lots of fun to be had in the next two days.

Saturday

Everything was just as beautiful as I remembered in the daylight. HUGE fir and pine trees, lots of green, but also lots of vibrant color. I didn't realize that the Northwest had such a beautiful fall. I was thrilled to be wearing multiple layers and one of my favorite puffy vests. Fall has truly arrived when I can break out one of my many puffy vests. (I think I own about 5 of them!)

Freddie and I headed to Bellevue Square to meet Pranali for lunch. Bellevue Square is a slightly upscale pedestrian mall complete with Nordstroms, Crate and Barrel and a myriad of delicious restaurants. We selected PF Changs for our first meal together in 4 years. Lunch was quite tasty - we shared a bottle of wine, the infamous lettuce wraps and a warm meal.

After lunch, we parted ways. Pranali had to go to lab - something about killing worms and isolating some genes or something. She's smart, in case you couldn't tell. Freddie and I headed for downtown Seattle at this point to hit two Seattle landmarks. I am sure you are all thinking that the Space Needle was one of those landmarks....well it wasn't. In fact, in the 4 times I've been to Seattle, I've never been up the Space Needle. I'm sure it's cool and all, but I like to enjoy and immerse myself in the city. The touristy stuff doesn't do it for me.

Anyways, those two landmarks - REI and Pike's Place Market. Why REI? Because I'm an outdoor retail geek and this is one cool REI. It has two huge floors and a climbing wall that can be seen from the highway. It is always packed in there with people and since it's so large there are usually many brands that I've never been introduced to. I've got to hand it to Freddie - he was awesome about holding my vest while I tried things on and was helpful in finding cute, yet functional items. Honestly though,I think he enjoyed it because after a short trip through the women's section, we hit the men's section and the roles reversed. I think he even called a man's sweater 'Cute'. One of the many reasons I love spending time with Freddie - you never what is going to come out of his mouth.

Following our REI Adventure, we headed to Pike's Place Market. I've been here many times before, but we've always raced through it. This time we really enjoyed it. We were greeted immediately by a group of 'artists' that were doing a project. They would have a person stand at the bottom of a steep hill while someone else pushed them up it and videotaped it. Not sure what that was all about, but we were hoping for a ride back up the hill when we were done at the market. We passed by the Original Starbucks where a quartet of acapella singers was entertaining the masses. We hit up a shop and bought some delicious oils, flowers for Fred's place and a cookie as big as my head! There is also tons of seafood at this market.


The salmon, crabs, lobster tails - all of them were huge and very fresh! It was a really fun afternoon.

That evening we met Pranali in the U District for dinner. We had sushi that was not as good as I was expecting given the west coast location. However, it was a really unique place. The chefs were in the middle of the room and a conveyor belt of sushi went all around them. When the item you want comes by your table, you just remove it from the belt and eat! At the end of the evening, the waitress calculates your bill by the number and color of the plates on your table.

Very cool concept, but I had better sushi in Vegas than I did in Seattle. Our dessert location more than made up for it though. We went to this place called 'Delietante's'. They had all sorts of wonderful cakes, coffees, drinks, etc...We each ordered a very large piece of sugary goodness and stuffed ourselves. What a delightful end to a wonderful evening!

Although we had every intention of 'partying' in Seattle, some of us were tired and cold and ready for bed. Sorry Freddie!

Sunday
I woke up Sunday morning and decided I better go for a run to counteract all of the gluttony from Saturday. To my surprise and delight it was nice and balmy outside, which made for a very pleasant run. I went for about an hour and really enjoyed all the hills, fall colors and tall fir tress.

Fred and I met Pranali at an awesome little breakfast place called 'The Brown Bag Cafe'. It was in a small little house where the portions were enormous. I had the French Toast with fruit on top. Yum!

Our mission for the afternoon was to hit the local wineries. Our first stop was Chateau St. Michelle. We tasted 4 different wines here - a Merlot, a Cab, a Riesling and a Sauvignon Blanc. It was a very relaxing way to spend a rainy Sunday in Seattle. I bought a bottle of the Merlot, which was surprising since I'm not a 'Merlot' person typically. Pranali purchased a bottle for her parents as well. We made our way to Columbia Winery next, which was just across the street. Columbia was our favorite. The environment was warm, social and inviting. We got to taste 5 different wines here. We really took our time and savored the afternoon.

After 9 pours of wine, we were all a bit tipsy. We toyed with hitting a 3rd winery, but we really needed food and to get home for the Packer-Bears game that evening. We headed for Kirkland and went to the WingDome. Mmmmm! It was this 'hole in the wall' type place with killer food. We shared some Jalapeno Poppers, Waffle Fries (with buffalo sauce and blue cheese!) and wings. It was way too much food, but it helped counter the 9 pours of wine we just had. All was right with the world!

We headed back to Fred's place where we watched a very disappointing Packer loss to the Bears. At least we watched it in HD. That's something, right? Pranali and I packed up the car and headed for her place. I was flying out early in the morning and Pranali was taking me to the airport.

Pranali lives in a great little house that she shares with her roomate. She made me some of her infamous tea and we stayed up and talked for a few hours before calling it a night.

Monday
We woke up early and headed for the airport. It was smooth sailing right up until it was time to board. We were going to be delayed 45 minutes due to weather in Minneapolis and runway construction. Given that my next flight was less than an hour from the original flight, I knew things were going to get interesting.

I called my mom and she checked on the Madison flights for me. Luckily, mine was delayed. This would buy me some time. If I miss my flight, I'll have another 3 hours to sit around Minneapolis airport before heading home. Not a bad airport to be stuck in, but I really wanted to get home.

We finally landed in Minneapolis at 1:15pm. I called my mom again from the plane as we were taxiing. She said my flight had been delayed until 1:45pm. Sweet! If I ran I could make it. I was looking forward to a workout that day, although I hadn't planned on it being a dead sprint through the MSP airport.

I was off the plane at 1:25pm. I had to go clear across the airport to make my connection. Time to put those Ironman skills to work and get a move on. I booked across the airport and managed to arrive at my gate around 1:32pm. It was kind of fun and exciting to run across the airport. But, it was also pretty exhausting as well.

I arrived in Madison and my friend Wes was there to greet me. As expected, my luggage didn't make the flight and I knew we would have to drive back and pick it up a few hours later. In the meantime, we enjoyed a meal and good conversation at Brocach. We headed back to the airport and my luggage was there. What a relief! I was happy it wouldn't get any more complicated than that.

I can't wait to make my next trip back. It's such a beautiful area and I have great friends who are always there for me. I do think I could live in Seattle - it's a cultured, beautiful, active city. I have a nice base of close friendships there and I could pretty much ride and run there all year long and STILL have the benefits of fall. Plus, if I want snow, there are plenty of mountains within miles of there.

Thanks Fred and Pranali for a wonderful weekend! I miss you guys already!