Pippen...on tour now!

High-flying acrobatics, unbelievable balancing feats, catchy song and dance routines, and even some fire consumes the stage at a magical performance of Pippen!  And Michelle and I were in the front row of the theater to witness it all!

A little over a year ago, to kick off my bachelorette weekend, Michelle arrived in NYC a little early and we went to see Pippen!  It has now begun a tour across the US so it may be showing near you if you have any interest in a spectacular show!  I wasn't 100% on board with the overall message of the show, but it was one of the most entertaining I've seen.  I loved that the audience felt a part of the show, too.  There were several times we participated and characters spoke directly to the audience at various moments.

My favorite character was Bethe, Pippen's exiled grandmother.  Older people have wisdom and insight on life that allows them to tell it like it is...almost always.  The best song of the show was Bethe's No Time At All.  Here the chorus:

Oh, it's time to start livin'

Time to take a little from this world we're given

Time to take time, 'cause spring will turn to fall

In just no time at all...

Check out the tour list if you want to spend a couple hours being well entertained!  The talent and athletic feats that occurred throughout Pippen were nothing short of amazing!

Andrea :)

A Wedding and Some Apple Picking

Chris and I made our way to Albany for the last time this year to celebrate with friends at a wedding...and do a little apple picking before heading back to the city! In a pleasant turn of events, it was a really nice weekend. Earlier in the week, the threat of hurricane induced winds and rain were in the forecast. Fortunately, the weekend was absolutely gorgeous! Perfect fall weather! We had a great time catching up with friends and dancing the night away!

Photo on left was snagged from facebook since I didn't manage to get one of the lovely couple myself!

Sunday, Chris watched his beloved J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS secure a victory before noon since they were playing in London this week.  I stayed back at the hotel to get some work done so I missed out on the football fun.  I was ready to go when it rolled around to apple picking time though!  We didn't spend as much time as I would have liked at the orchard, but I am looking forward to making something yummy with the ones we picked!

On the way back to the city, we stopped to take some one year anniversary photos with our talented photographer friend, Tara of Tara Wiley Photography.  We had such a blast...and I can't wait to show you the fun photos from our shoot. We have one wedding remaining for this year...and it's just around the corner so our dancing shoes shouldn't be too dusty by then!

Andrea :)

Health & Fitness in September

Honestly, this past month has been a major struggle on the marathon training end.  The month began with a long weekend visit as we hosted my out-of-town parents.  Straying from my routine for those five days wasn't so bad.  I could have recovered from that small deviance easily.  However, the day after my parents left, Chris and I boarded a plane for our west coast adventure.  We did manage a couple of days of significant hiking and walking the steep terrain of California, but I didn't run once during our 10 day journey.

September 1 - 4 mile run

September 3 - 5 mile run

September 10 - 2 mile run; 6 mile bike

September 22 - 4 mile run

September 24 - 7 mile run 

September 26 - 16 mile bike

September 29 - 5 mile run

So...you can imagine my trepidation when I returned on September 21 with only a handful of short runs under my belt for the whole month.  I expected to be in real trouble.  And maybe I am, but I also think the rest gave my legs a much needed break.  I felt strong in those first two runs after the trip.  I am working hard to attempt to return to a reasonable level of endurance in the long runs.  My true test will come next weekend when I try my hand...or rather legs...at the Brooklyn Rock-n-Roll Half I'm signed up to run.  It is sure to give me an indication of how this marathon will pan out since I'm just under a month away now!

Here's hoping for a quality October in the training department!

Andrea :)