After 6.5 years at Yahoo!, I said “see you later” to my Yahoo! family (they will all forever hold a special place in my heart) and am about to embark on a new adventure with a company in Mountain View, Rhythm NewMedia.

My team and I were impacted by some big business decisions to lower costs at Y!, so we worked through 2 months of transitioning business before saying sayonara to the big purple. I feel fortunate in the sense that my team and I had a 2-month head start to look for our next opportunities v.s. receiving walking papers same day like some of our other dear Y! friends (to those friends, I say to you: things will look up for you soon if they haven’t already – less drama for your mama on the outside, I tell ya). I hold nothing personal against the company; it’s business and I get it. I’m beyond ready to move on.

Back to my new exciting adventure. I am officially taking one ginormous step onto a new career/life path as my first day with Rhythm is TOMORROW! The company specializes in Mobile Video advertising. I step in as Ad Operations Manager for a team of Campaign Managers. It will be interesting to jump in as a player-coach in a brand, spanking new environment with brand, spanking new tools, but I am eager to dive in and learn. I love, love, LOVE people managing so I’m hoping to get up to speed as quickly as possible to devote some energy into doing what I think I do best. Working on that 30-60-90 day plan for myself as I type, so wish me lots of luck!

This past Sunday, I ran my very first half marathon. Christian has been running this one for a few years now and I was always on the other side of the tracks playing photographer, trying to capture his big  finish. In fact, here’s his first half marathon finish:

This year, I decided to give it a shot. I trained like mad, creating a habit of running 6 days a week (I really needed to cross-train, but ended up focusing on a steady run routine instead – next time, next time). I wasn’t sure how I would do, seeing as how 13.1  miles is a buttload of miles to conquer by someone who really just doesn’t enjoy the act of running. Christian, the most  supportive and patient husband in the world, trained alongside me throughout the course of several weeks, listening to my complaining and huffing and puffing and it really made all the difference in the world to me.

The Race

Me before the race - no sweat, no pain.

On race day, it felt odd to be among the runners. It was pretty awesome that I felt like I finally belonged there, but it was really crazy to think about how just the year prior, I decided that I’d never be up for completing a half marathon; I just wasn’t that dedicated to running to do it. Well, I’m glad I proved myself wrong. I started the race with Christian and our good friend Amy (who has participated in the San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll Half every year since its inception). Amy’s husband Mike ran it too but he’s like a rocket, so the guy got to start ahead of us. As we approached the official starting line, I felt a brief moment of emotional overload where tears started to well up in my eyes and I was overcome with happiness in the thought that I was about to do this… thing. This huge thing that I never thought that I would ever be able to do in my life. It was nuts.

Our buddy Endorphin Dude - Uber-amazing runner and overall guy!

I won’t lie. The race was hard. I was feeling really good for the first two miles. The first band that the runners come across less than a mile in every year is the Independence  High School Band directed by my old high school band teacher, Ken Ponticelli. That guy rocks and so does his band – it was such great motivation and I was so happy to know that I would be seeing him, I decided to run ahead, pull over, and give him a huge pre-sweat hug. It was great. After that, I was still feeling pretty good, checking out all the neighborhoods and people with their displays of doughnuts and beers out in front of their yards for any runners who dared to indulge mid-race, listening to Amy and Christian chat a bit (I’m not much of a chatter when I run – just don’t have the lungs to do both). As we approached mile 3, it was getting a bit harder for me. I was warmer than usual, thirstier than usual, and developed a cramp on my side. From that point on until the end, it was cramps off and on, water and Cytomax walk breaks whenever I could get them, and heat. During the last half mile of the race, my feet felt like they were on fire. I mean, ON FIRE!  It was the strangest sensation and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I usually try to  push at the end of my runs and finish strong  with a light sprint, but there was just no pushing for me on this one; it was a keep-moving-forward-and-don’t-pass-out deal for me. Well, I finished. My awesome Christian ran alongside me the entire race. Our chip time was exactly the same, down to the second (2:24:53). I grabbed my medal, a water, a banana, a muffin, a bagel, a marathon bar, and I was off to go stretch out the pain. It look me about 15 minutes to recover down to a manageable level of tired, but I felt so much better than I thought I was going to. I was also so uber-proud of myself for finishing when I did. It also made my day to be able to see my good friend Kat and her family there afterwards; they’re good peeps & I love them to pieces.

The Aftermath

After Christian and I went home and got cleaned up, we went out for mexican food and a walk around the Great Mall. I was feeling really tired, but great! Later that evening at home, I started feeling really nauseous and took a nap, hoping the feeling would go away. It didn’t work and I felt sick the rest of the night. No puking; just unsettled yuckness. I Mortal Kombatted my evening away and went back to bed.

The next morning, I was sore beyond sore all over. My back, my shoulders, my calves, my quads. You name it,  it hurt. The nausea was gone though, so I couldn’t really complain. Aside from the soreness, I was back to feeling good again. Now I’m able to continue feeling proud of myself for my huge accomplishment and plan for the next half marathon. Woohoo!

Thanks for reading and sharing in my big  moment. Means a lot

VOILA!

So pretty

Over Labor Day Weekend 2011, I made Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies. This is the fourth time I’ve made Oreo-stuffed cookies; the first two times were with Mini Oreos. Regular-sized Oreos definitely have a better taste to them. The Oreo-to-chocolate Chip cookie ratio is just better. These are now one of Christian’s new favorite cookies. My challenge for the next time I make these is to make them look prettier…

At least they tasted awesome! I will be making them again

First toy drop was at the Promenade in Santa Monica.  I left it next to a triceratops sculpture.

An hour after dropping it off, I went back and noticed that it was picked up (yay!)

Later that same day, I dropped off another crochet cupcake in a geocache* on the beach by the Santa Monica Pier:

This one was picked up the next day and the receiver left this comment on my blog (on my toy drop #2 post):

“I found this cutie-pie in a geocache at Santa Monica Pier, CA on May 16, 2011 (if you don’t know what a geocache is, go to www.geocaching.com – it’s very cool)! As soon as I saw its pink sweetness I knew it was special and immediately knew what I would do with it. Just 2 days previous I had witnessed the birth of my good friend’s first baby, Ruby Rose. My friend had made and brought to the hospital pink cupcakes, to celebrate the birth of her baby girl. This sweet toy reminded me of those celebratory cupcakes and the wonderful event they represented. I gave this crochet cupcake to my friend, as Ruby’s first geocache. Thank you for such a special commemoration of a baby girl’s birth-day! ”

How cool is that?!

*Geoocaching is my new obsession.  I LOVE it.  Don’t know what it is?  www.geocaching.com

Special thanks to Justincomedy for turning me on to this awesome new hobby!

Check out Christian’s video (and my baking adventure), the ART of the CUPCAKE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1cEhymWoqE and enjoy!

When you’re done with that, watch our latest 48 Hour Film project, Polar Opposites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFWsuvX2GCk

And if you feel like doing a little reading, check out the latest posting on Lock It Down TV titled “It’s a Cruel Summer” written by yours truly.

Off to lunch, then a play, then some work for work. Happy Sunday, y’all!

Sock cake made by the fabulous Rosie

Awesome cupcake bouquet sent by my wonderful Christian

Chillin’ on the lawn chomping on some tasty kebabs

Smiles with Jayden & Kat

Baby Lily sporting the coolest cupcake hoodie ever

Just Dancing in the garage to Womanizer

Here’s the rest of the photos for your viewing fun.  Thanks for reading!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleepyeve/sets/72157624350200743/

(Slideshow) http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleepyeve/sets/72157624350200743/show/

Before I get into the awesomeness that has been my 30th birthday today, I want to share the story of my past 6 months.

30 pounds for my 30th.

At the beginning of this year, Christian and I decided  to get our act together and make some lifestyle changes.  I think we had both hit a point over the holidays when we realized how unhappy we were with how we were feeling and looking.  I was probably at my heaviest  that I’d ever been in my life over the Christmas holiday… and we all know how feasting over holiday meals go…  In mid January, I decided that enough was enough.  I started teaching myself some simple things about calories, nutrition, well-balanced diets, and Christian and I started our lifestyle change.  I decided to join Christian and some of our friends each weekend to ease my way into the world of running.  I’d run some, walk some, run some, walk some more.  We started to eat better meals – homemade, properly portioned,well-rounded meals (home-cooked meals now take about a half hour to an hour longer to prepare because I measure and calculate everything out).  We watched our balance of calories, making sure to keep ourselves accountable for everything we consumed and balanced our days with physical activity.  Some of you are probably thinking, “oh,  so they went on a diet” but no, that’s not really the case.  As I mentioned a few lines earlier, we decided to make a lifestyle change, so this isn’t a temporary fad we put in place to drop pounds; this is a permanent transformation in our way of thinking and behaving to make ourselves healthier, happier people.

Six months later, I’m now officially thirty pounds lighter and ten thousand times happier.  When I lost ten pounds, a good friend of mine suggested that the next  time I go to the grocery store, I pick up two sacks of potatoes to see how that extra ten pounds of weight really felt.  Well, I never remembered to do that, so the next time I remember when I go into a store, I need to pick up 6 sacks of potatoes to account for the thirty pounds.  Ooooh boy.  I’m  happier, I feel loads more confident about myself, and I don’t mind seeing myself in a mirror or in pictures these days.  I don’t really deprive myself of anything I enjoy; I just enjoy it in moderation and/or balance it appropriately with working out.   It’s all about discipline and balance.  And teamwork.  If Christian and I were not in on this together as a team, I’m sure neither of us would have been as successful as we have been.

This lifestyle alteration also has me doing more physical activity than I’ve ever done before in my life.  When I first started running, I’d run two sides of a block before I had to stop for a walk break.  Eventually, the walk breaks shortened and now, I can run for 7 continuous miles on a good day.  No, not training for a marathon or half marathon.  And no, not enjoying running itself either.  I just enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes after I’m done.  The increased caloric capacity to shove more food into my belly is also a plus   To think, when I was a chubby junior high schoool pre-teen, I struggled through a 14 minute mile a week because I had to do it for a grade.  Now, I’m choosing to do a 10:30 to 11:00 mile for way more than just a mile.  I’m nuts.  At least I’m happily nuts.

One last thought on this life change: eating better and working out allowed for me to drop 4 pant sizes since January.  I’ve spent so much money shopping in the past several months because I kept outgrowing (or whatever the opposite of outgrowing is…) my clothes.  Totally worth it though because shopping and trying on clothes is actually a fun thing for me to do these days

All right, enough of that.  On to something else.

What I Did for My 30th Birthday.

I’ll keep this portion as brief as I can because frankly, I’m sleepy and I wanted to get this blog posted on my birthday but it looks like I’ll be missing that by several minutes… OH WELL.

Christian and I woke up around 7ish and went out for a 7 and an half mile run.  7.6 to be exact.  That’s the most I’ve ever clocked in continuous running miles *pats self on back*

After we got back home and took our respective refreshing and very necessary showers, we picnicked in our backyard under our nice ginormous backyard tree.  I love picnics and so rarely go on them, so this was fun

After lunch, we headed over to the movie theaters and treated ourselves to Toy Story 3.  Lots of kids, but it actually wasn’t as annoying to be in the audience with them as I thought.  Great movie – very emotional, actually.

Once the movie was over, we dashed over to the Tech Museum of Innovation and enjoyed a very educational and interesting exhibit on Genghis Khan.  We walked around some of the other Tech exhibit halls after that was done, but didn’t end up staying for too long because we were both starving.

Dinner consisted of feasting on some yummalicious baby back ribs at Henry’s Hi-Life by the Shark Tank.  MMMMMmmmm… ribs, baked potato with a scoop of butter crack and sour cream, and super-delish garlic bread.  Oh, there was a salad of some sort somewhere in there too, but that was totally forgettable.

Since we were  sort of in the neighborhood, we decided to check out one of our favorite Target stores – the one off of Coleman is pretty nicely kept.  Didn’t buy anything exciting, but I just enjoy walking around that store and looking at stuff.

We got home and had a small Mad Men marathon to close out the evening.  I tuckered poor Christian out with my very long list of birthday activities but he’s a total trooper.  I’m the luckiest girl in the world to  have someone like him love me so much that he’s willing to go through all of the craziness and never-ending list of activities with zero complaint just to make me happy.  Thank you for making me feel so special.

All in all, it’s been a really fabulous 2010 so far and a really fabulous start to my 30′s

Thanks for reading.

Sleepily Yours,

Evelyn

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour

Servings: 6
Calories per Serving:~250

INGREDIENTS:
15 chopped, steamed carrots sticks (it’s what I had in the fridge & I microwave-steamed them)
1 onion, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
4 Tablespoons margarine
1 can fat-free evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (omit or use less if you don’t like heat)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1  ( 15 ounce )  can tomato sauce        
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 tablespoon Curry Powder

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F  ( 190 degrees C ) .
2. Melt 2 tablespoons of margarine in large skillet (I used my giganto wok ’cause I’m asian like that) over medium heat.  Stir in carrots, onion & garlic, & cook slowly until the onion caramelizes, about 15 minutes.
3. Add the remaining margarine to the skillet over medium-high heat along with the tomato sauce, evaporated milk, salt, cayenne pepper, & garam masala. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low; cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. While the sauce is simmering, toss cubed chicken with curry powder until coated, then spread out onto a foil-lined baking sheet (no mess!).
5. Bake chicken in preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 10 minutes.  Once done, add the chicken to the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes before serving.

I served it over 1 1/4 cups of steamed white rice.

It had loads of kick and flavor.  AWESOMENESS (in my personal opinion…)  Happy cooking!

Adorable.