She's Baaaaaaaack!

Hola, my fine friends of the blogosphere!  I have been missing in action for quite some time and I know you were terribly concerned.  After all, I am sure you live and breathe this very blog.   In all seriousness, thank you to everyone that inquired about whether or not I was still alive and asked how my new job is going.   Yes, I am still kickin’ and the new job is going very well.

So, where have I been? 

My mom, little sister and my sister’s best friend were in town for a week so I was busy entertaining and having an all-girls week.  We had a fabulous time staying in a loft on Mission Beach.  We drank wine, ate loads of food, kayaked (my mom barfed), and hung out in L.A. for a day.  While in L.A., we had a celebrity spotting.  There was a Bravo event taking place and we were able to watch the Real Housewives strut their stuff on the red carpet along with Padma from Top Chef and Curtis Stone.  I don’t even own a TV but I am enthralled with celebrities.  When did reality TV people become celebrities, anyway? 

My attempt at being the paparazzi

My mom & baby sister in Hollywood

Just hours after my family left, Angela and I drove up to Palm Springs to attend Dinah Shore weekend.  If you’re straight, you probably have no idea what I am talking about.  It is essentially 5 days of lesbian debauchery.  There are elaborate parties at night and the days consist of pool parties that are basically exploding with bikini clad women and loud music.  It is ridiculously fun.

Ang and I met up with Gina and Aj from L.A., who just so happen to be some of the coolest people on this planet.  Yeah, they are that awesome.  Also vegan runners, we were able to go out to eat without being the “vegans in the room”.  They’re smart, funny and nice to look at-- everything you could want in a friend.

For awhile, I considered my first Pride experience (in Chicago) to be the most fun day of my gay life.  It felt like my birthday on steroids.  Music , dancing  and celebrating who I am.  What’s better than that?  Well, DINAH is!  Take away all of the men, add go-go dancers, bikinis, beautiful scenery and insert an enormous pool overflowing with lesbians from all over the world .  It totally beats Pride.

The following Monday, I was forced to rejoin the world and leave behind my lesbian paradise.  I started my fantastic new job at Voices for Children where I now work on behalf of abused and neglected children that have become a part of the foster system.  I may work behind the scenes in Development but I hear the stories of abuse and child prostitution every hour of the day.  In just one week, it has helped me put everything into perspective.  I am truly proud to be part of such a hard-working organization that is chock-full of incredibly talented, altruistic individuals.   Enough cheese for one paragraph?  But, I mean every word of it!

Since this is a running blog, I should probably say something about running.  Will you stop considering me a true runner if I confess that I have traded Happy Hours for running? I am in between marathons right now, so I am living it up before June rolls around and I sell my soul to the running devil (again).  I am running less than 30 miles each week but it feels surprisingly good.  I am keeping my long run at 10 miles so I don’t lose my entire aerobic base. 

I have a lot of catching up to do on all of your blogs…. So, off I go.