One of us had a good run, the other drank delicious beer.

I'm now halfway through my "4 weeks off running to get the Cankle to STFU." The spot on my Cankle is feeling less cranky as a result.. Duh.

I mean it's like splitting hairs because asides from when the Cankle initially imploded May 1, I really haven't been experiencing anything more than a very mild discomfort, barely noticeably, if at all. It just escalates when I string a few days of running together which is no bueno. Could I still be running? Probably. But that goes against my goal for a long term solution to this chronic tendinosis issue. (As well as general right leg issues).

Yeah it's tough to be sitting out all my favorite races this summer/fall but I am seriously over starting almost from scratch each year after nursing various injuries for a few months at a time.


CB got to run around Tuesday before heading to the fido to go truck. He had been "wild" this past week. Not sure if it was because L was away for business, or if he wasn't exercising as much as he should but he needed to release some energy.


He was less "wild" for like a day before he started acting out again.

Posing with the Dog and Rooster. Mine and CB's zodiac animals respectively.

Wednesday we took a walk to the planetarium to see the new Chinese Zodiac statues that were installed that morning. (thanks Kim for the tip!)


We also enjoyed the sunset.


And finally he was tired.

Saturday morning I made another set of quiches. This time it was: bacon, onion, collard greens with Comte/Emmental cheese. These were super delicious. I think weekend quiche baking will be my new tradition. I love experimenting with different cheese and ingredients.


Saturday afternoon we went to the Goose Island #312BlockParty.


They were tapping different varietals of their Bourbon County Stout every 30 minutes which was amazing since these beers are so difficult to find.


We tried 6 varietals. My favorites (in order) were

Bramble Rye BCS
Proprietor's BCS
Coffee 2013 BCS
Violet Hour BCS
Coffee 2014 BCS
Buffalo Trace BCS


Despite the rain earlier in the day, it ended up being a gorgeous afternoon and evening.


The live bands were fab and we had a lot of fun. It was a nice way to close out the summer. {sad face}


To finish out the weekend we ordered some food off Grub Hub and watched a movie. Nice and chill. Just how we like it.


2 more weeks without running should go just as fast as the first. And yet I'm not overly excited to get back out there. I'm enjoying this new "balance" of life/workouts quite a bit without the OMG I MUST TRAIN FOR THIS NEXT RACE mentality.


--Xa'ar

Beer, Buttery Bread and Brasilian Bikini

And yet again the theme of the week was "sleepy." Work has been busy and jet lag is contagious. I swear. Every time L gets back from a business trip his exhaustion rubs off on me.

CB was sleepy too.

I got some summery dresses but the weather in Chicago has been hovering in the 50's lately. Womp. At least the weather in Brasil will be gorgeous in the springtime....

2 of the 4 dresses.. the other 2 are completely different styles than these, because diversity is fun...

Mae sent me this photo of São Paulo from her house this week and It instantly put a smile on my face. I cannot wait to return to SP!
I made more quiches last week. This batch was pancetta, Comte, and Emmental cheese. I added some half and half this time and they raised up like soufflés. I'll stick to milk-less quiches in the future..

We went to the Chicago craft beer fest on Saturday. We usually only go to their spring festival, but this year the fall date worked for us.


It was at the Great Hall of Union Station.


We immediately noticed there were less attendees and less breweries compared to the spring fest. But there were plenty of delicious new to me beers to try.

Selfie within a selfie!

A list of the beers I tried: All "new to me"

• Not your father's root beer. ABV 10%- Small Town  WHOA SO SWEET & DECEPTIVELY STRONG!
• Maiden Voyage- Aquanaut (Rye beer)
• I Troll- Pig Minds, Double IPA
• Always the Hard Way- Pig Minds, Double IPA
• White IPA- Slapshot brewery, White IPA
• Spiced Orange Ginger Beer- Crabbies
• Coastbuster- Upland Double IPA Probably the best beer at the festival. Reminiscent of Pliny
• Anthem Cherry Cider
• Premium Elderberry Cider
• Chocolate Porter- Small Town
• Unapologetic IPA- Stone (At Hackney's post beer fest)

That brings my total of unique beers consumed to 968 since I started using Untappd.

We also made some new Brasilian friends.

I feel like my Portuguese speaking abilities are about to "click" and then I'll be able to actively participate in conversations. I was surprised at the amount I could understand this weekend. Ok no I'm not, I study Portuguese a lot and am near fluent in Spanish... I just need more words. I'm planning to be able to hold my own next time I go to Brasil.

Sunday morning I made pao na chapa. (Grilled buttery bread, a breakfast staple in Brasil)


I took CB for a walk and was creepin on his arch nemesis.


And the Brasilian bikini I ordered from France finally arrived. I bought the super discounted "surprise" bandeau. All I knew is that it would be by designer Rio do Sol and would be a bandeau. I'm happy with the colors. It's just all like WHOA the difference between American style bikinis...
'Cuz when in Rio de Janiero...

-Xa'ar

Yay helicopter, yay running, yay beer, no more running. Womp.

Last week I went to the airport to finish up my application for GE. That means no more standing in the slow moving security line with the rest of the clueless herd. *And will make my return from international trips much easier too! 

We went to the "Dread Zeppelin" concert last Friday. It's a group that sings Led Zeppelin songs in a reggae style. The lead singer is a "300lb Elvis impersonator" who sings like Elvis. It was fun.


L and I went for several runs during last week. The weather was gorgeous and I was so happy to run outside....


At 8am I woke up to a loud helicopter close to my apt, when I saw the shadow of it through my blinds I jumped out of bed and exclaimed "Holy shit it's right outside our window!"


I was super amused watching it drop off AC units on the building across from us.

Video of the helicopter

We ran again and saw that the Chicago marathon banners were up in grant park. I'm really happy to not be running it this year.  {injury aside}3 years in a row was enough.


We went to Kaiser Tiger again. We love this place. Great beer selection and the food is delicious too.


Post Kaiser tiger, we went to Au Cheval for mixed drinks as a "dessert." Yum.


We also went to check out Vice District Brewing which just opened in the south loop. It's a nice taproom with 5 of their beers on draft (eventually will be 14!) and you can BYOF (bring your own food)


Later on Sunday I found the video of the NBC nightly news with Lester Holt which profiled some dog treat trucks around the country including our very own Fido to Go! I was excited to see if CB and I made the cut, which we did multiple times! CB loves his Fido treats and we were happy to see them get national exposure.

*My Daad insisted I add this screenshot of CB... 

Here is the link to the video segment on Fido.

Poor Quality screenshot from the NBC segment. Im in the ratty green Toms with CB!

Monday was pure shit.

At PT it was mutually decided that I should take 4 weeks completely off running. There's still a lingering spot of minor discomfort on my Cankle that needs to cool down. I was happy to get in 19 miles of running in gorgeous weather last week before this decision was made....

I'm mainly concerned about long term success of getting rid of this chronic peroneal tendon issue. I want to avoid surgery in the future... and running through this extremely mild discomfort is just not worth it to me.


I came home Monday to see the laundry pods had jumped off the dryer after I went to work. The main question was "OH MY GOD DID CB EAT ANY!?!" After analyzing his behavior, looking around the house for throw up, and even offering him a laundry pod to eat (he refused) I concluded he was a GOOD BOY and didn't eat any. That was confirmed Tuesday when he didn't poop orange/blue or bubbles.


Monday night we saw the "super moon."

Tuesday we went to see Fido to go and CB was very happy.


Tuesday I also cooked quiches for the first time. Apple wood smoked gruyere cheese, spinach, onion, and red pepper quiches. So freaking delicious.


They came out amazing! And now I have a bunch. :) I cant wait to make more quiches with all different flavors...


Wednesday and Day 3 of 28 of no running I went to PT again and bought a resistance band because the ones I have at home are waaay too weak for my super duper strong hips. I'm able to do 96% of my PT exercises at home and wanted to add side steps and "monsters" to the routine. Yay PT, yay.

And now for the rest of the week I'll cycle a bunch, lift weights, learn Portuguese, cook tasty things, and enjoy life like always. And hopefully work will be less busy.. But thats the life of an accountant... yay close yay.


--Xa'ar