The Curly Girl

A Lifestyle Blog

Five Friday Finds

by // 2 Comments

I’m in route to Denver for the Americans for the Arts Convention! Adam is joining me and we’re staying through Monday (the conference ends Sunday at noon) so we can have a mini vacation in the city. Work has been crazy and while I know there will be a lot of networking this weekend, I’m looking forward to attending some interesting sessions and enjoying my evenings with Adam!

Next weekend I hope to post about my travels within the state and to Denver but for now, here are today’s five Friday finds:

  1. Sneak peak for my travels post: I met Marie! The oldest waitress in Iowa, she is just as much of a spitfire as the article suggests. My favorite story she shared was how she once (and only once) used a pre-made pie crust for a woman’s dinner event and then tricked the women into thinking it was handmade when they all wanted the recipe!
  2. Stuff You Should Know did a podcast on the phenomenon of dismembered feet on beaches in Canada and then in May it happened again!
  3. A small rural town in Iowa is painting an anamorphic illusion of a gorge in the middle of their downtown street and I can’t wait to see it in person! Here’s Dysart’s webpage to keep up on their progress.
  4. It’s pretty much summer (the two days of spring quickly passed) so I’m wanting to wear all the fun nail polish colors! These combos are a great place to start.
  5. Next on my audible list: Children of Blood & Bone (all newly 18 hours of audio!). It’s been compared to Harry Potter insofar as its creation of a new and magical world.
  6. BONUS: Next on my reading list: 5 Love Languages.

Now you tell me:

  • What are you reading / listening to right now?
  • What are you looking forward to this weekend?

First Dam (to Dam) Race

by // 4 Comments

The post-race entertainment in downtown Des Moines!

Well it’s been a hot minute since I’ve put up a blog post! Starting the last week of May and continuing through June is a super busy travel season with my job. I love it but I’m totally drained by the end of the day and on weekends so I just haven’t had the energy to put towards writing. But my busiest week is behind me and I’m slowly getting life back on track!

At the end of the month I’ll post a big overview of the places I’ve been (or you could check out my Instagram!) but I wanted to follow-up on my first running event of the year: Dam to Dam.

This run has been a point of frustration for me. I registered in 2016 before I has even moved to Iowa. I was planning a visit to go house hunting with Adam and we decided to sign up for the race. However a combination of moving challenges and my sweet Tallulah getting very sick led to zero training and I opted to wait for Adam at the finish line. In 2017, we registered again. And a few weeks before the race I got shin splints that ended my running for most of 2017. So then comes 2018 and the announcement that this would be the last Dam to Dam race (hosted by the original creators) and instead of a half marathon it would go back to the original 20k. I registered Adam and I at 7:30 AM the morning it opened, it was sold out just after noon. 9,000 runners registered in just over 6 hours!

Adam and I used this as a kickstart to our training for the Chicago marathon and I was deliberately slow to pick up mileage this spring in order to avoid shin splints again. All was well and we both felt pretty solid going into the week before the race.

The look of people who are having fun…

And then the weather predictions worsened.

Buses lined up to unload runners into miserable weather…

Somewhere in the area of 80% chance of thunderstorms at 7 AM. The time the race was supposed to start. Now, I joke without really joking that I am a fair-weather runner. I had never gone for a run in the rain before and tend to avoid any drastic weather (hot, cold, etc). I crossed my fingers that things would clear up.

Yep, I was the creeper taking pictures of people being miserable. Why did we pay for this??

Saturday morning came wet and loud. Thunder and lightning as Adam and I dressed and drove to the meeting spot. This race is interesting in that you cannot drive yourself to the start. It starts at the top of a dam in a park without much parking. So they do bus pick-ups from two locations, one of which is only 3 minutes from our house. So we headed to the parking lot to get on a bus, checking social media and emails constantly to see if there were official race updates. There weren’t. Ever. We parked and then went to join the line of people waiting for a bus.

The dam starting line

In the rain. And wind.

Adam and I were not one of the smart ones to bring trash bags to protect ourselves from the elements so we were soaked in no time. We did go hide back in the car for a bit after reading that the buses were delayed due to lightning. But eventually, the buses arrived and we hauled ourselves out of the warmth of the car back into the driving rain and wind. It was arguably one of the more miserable moments I have had in recent memory. Once we made it to the starting line, we joined hundreds (or thousands) of others who were hiding out under trees, waiting to hear if the race was going to start (at this point it had only been delayed 30 minutes). After what felt like forever, a race official came walking through the crowd announcing that the race had begun and to advance to the starting line.

Just a little windy

Adam and I crossed the starting line at 7:47 AM, just as the announcer said “and the rain just stopped, folks!” Best announcement ever!

The sun came out!

As for the actual race, it went surprisingly well! My shoes were soaking wet and I had to stop at mile 4 to take them off and put the soles back in place (they had literally slipped up to rest on top of my feet!). I heard from a lot of runners that they had some pretty intense chaffing (FUN!) but I did not experience any of that! It is primarily a downhill race and since we started behind so many people, I was essentially passing people the whole time which made it more entertaining. It was one of the busier races I have done, so a lot of energy was spent dodging and weaving around people. But the atmosphere was light and supportive and I was SO HAPPY to finally get that Dam (to Dam) medal!!

Now you tell me:

  • What is something you accomplished that was years in the making?
  • Do you exercise in bad weather? Any tips for how you get through it?
Post-race brunch at home 🙂

Five Friday Finds

by // 2 Comments

Whew, it has been a whirlwind week! And it doesn’t look like it is going to slow down anytime soon. This week kicked off site visits for the program I manage to determine designation. Such a fun but packed three weeks as I explore the state with our board members. If you follow me on Instagram you have seen some of our stops so far! Next week I am traveling all 5 work days, including a trip to Arkansas to deliver a keynote presentation on Iowa Great Places. Eek!! Way outside of my comfort zone but I am excited.

Also, despite my lack of posting, shout out to The Curly Girl Lifestyle for hitting 1 year on Sunday! I’ll post soon about what I have learned about myself and the blogger world over the past year but couldn’t let it go entirely ignored!

And now, here are today’s five Friday finds:

  1. I have multiple pregnant friends and decided that this list is way more useful than comparing baby size to fruit or veggies.
  2. As someone who worked at Starbucks before, and not even in a bad area, I think this new policy is going to create a problem… But I appreciate the idea.
  3. As if we needed this study, but in case you missed the memo, happy people live longer!
  4. I’m entirely too OCD to handle these pizzas.
  5. After finishing up the book “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that won’t Stop Talking”, I am obsessed with introverts and extroverts and think everyone should take this free personality test! I am a Defender: ISFJ-T.

You tell me:

  • What are your weekend plans?
  • Are you an introvert or extrovert?
  • Have you taken a personality test before and did you agree with the results?