Birthday Weekend

Today I celebrated my birthday. . . . 31 years. (Gosh I’m old.) My sweet husband says I am thirty-won-derful.

It was a very low-key birthday weekend. Saturday morning started like any other with a long-ish run of 10 miles. It was a touch warmer at 28*, but it was still cold in my book. I ran around Lake Hood, through the prop plane airport, and enjoyed the views of the mountains. I even had to stop for an airplane crossing the road. . . . only in Alaska.

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Saturday for brunch we met up with my in-laws at Ginger for some absolutely divine food. Seriously, if you live in Anchorage, you must check out Ginger for brunch—no lines (versus Snow City), reasonable prices, good service, and incredibly delicious food.

My mother-in-law and I

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Craig and his dad

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We enjoyed time chatting and catching up with one another. I was freezing from my run, so I started with some hot tea. Even though I take a hot shower, dry my hair, and dress in layers, it takes me several hours to truly warm up after running outside during the winter.

My brunch choice: the Breakfast Tacos. I had these before and was very excited to have them again. Once again they did not disappoint. Those potatoes are to die for.

mu shu tacos with egg, fresh cilantro and sriracha lime sour cream

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Craig had the Hot Mess. I snagged a couple of bites, and it was also a winner.

2 sausage patties, fried eggs, gravy, cheese, sriracha and your choice of biscuits, english muffin or sourdough toast

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Saturday afternoon we took Sadie to the dog park, which has become another typical thing we do during the weekend. It is the best of both worlds because Sadie can run around, and Craig and I don’t have to worry about cars or her pulling on the leash (although she has gotten much better).

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Saturday afternoon I worked on booking Maui excursions for our upcoming trip and Craig did our taxes. I liked my job better.

I am not allowing Craig to pick out the movie anymore. He picked out Flight from the Redbox and while it was an interesting story, it was intense. Denzel Washington is a hero pilot who saves a flight from crashing but is high on cocaine and intoxicated when it happens. It is a pretty intense movie (too intense for me at times) and while it had an interesting storyline, I think I will stick to my cheesy chick flicks.

Flight (2012) Poster

[Source]

I always fail at taking pictures on Sunday, so I have little to show for the day. Church in the morning, baking in the afternoon, and a late afternoon run, has become my typical Sundays. Yesterday afternoon I met up with Erin for a 4 mile run through the trails of east Anchorage. This was the first time Erin and I had met up, and I just love how easy the conversation flows between two runners.

For breakfast I made Real Simple’s Easy Toss-and-Bake Granola. I also have a version of the recipe on my blog: Homemade Granola. Make this—it is super easy, super cheap, and tastes amazing.

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For Sunday’s dinner I made: Spicy Vegan Potato Curry. I didn’t necessarily have high hopes for the recipe, so when it surpassed my expectations, I was shocked. My husband, who could eat curry every day for the rest of his life, was also impressed with the recipe. I highly recommend it as well!

Monday’s workout was a track workout at The Dome. I did 200s and 800s and thought it wouldn’t be too bad, but I was struggling to match my times from last week. I think the lack of sleep the past two nights and running 12 hours prior late Sunday afternoon affected my workout this morning. Oh well, I’m not getting too worked up about it. It was still a decent workout.

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I didn’t do anything else special on the day of my birthday: work and working out was about it. Oh well, maybe next year I’ll have something more to exciting to report.

Hi, I'm Michelle

I love running around the lakes of Minnesota, running after my two boys, and racing anything from the 5K to the marathon. I have been blogging here since 2010 when I ran my first marathon. I finally secured my sub-3 hour marathon after trying for 8 years.

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14 Comments

  1. 3.4.14

    Happy birthday, and shut up, you are not old!! 🙂

  2. 3.4.14
    Michelle said:

    Will have to try Ginger. Happy birthday!

  3. 3.4.14

    HBD!

  4. 3.4.14
    Krissie J said:

    Happy birthday! I like Craig’s take on the age, lol. 😉 I’ll be 31 in a few weeks and my day will likely be sleeping and soccer. Soooo exciting, haha.

  5. 3.4.14
    Sarah said:

    happy birthday michelle!

  6. 3.4.14
    Bonnie Alexander said:

    Have a Happy Birthday!!

  7. 3.4.14
    Brooke said:

    Happy Birthday – glad you were able to enjoy the day!

  8. 3.4.14
    Rebecca said:

    Happy belated birthday! Have a fabulous time in Maui!!!! I just returned last week and it was so beautiful and I ran everyday! It was so warm and I just couldn’t resist warm weather running! Happy travels!

  9. 3.4.14

    Happy Thirty-won-derful Birthday! Sounds like a wonderful weekend.

  10. 3.5.14

    Happy birthday friend! (I can call you friend, right? ha! I feel like I know you! 🙂

    Your hair has gotten so long – love it! xo

  11. 3.9.14

    happy birthday! I’m sure you’ll still be running strong into your 40’s! Your still young 🙂