Bullets through the atmosphere... here they come

• My brother leaves today. Womp, womp.
• I tried to fit in as much "touristy-but-not-too-dorky" stuff as I could think of (turns out, that's hard to do when you're kind of dorky). One evening, we went down to Corona del Mar, walked the beach a bit, and then ate the bread with all the garlic...

Saturday, we took the train...

to Olvera Street

 

and then to downtown

where we ate a delicious (and CHEAP) lunch at The Sandwich Bar on Olive (if you're ever downtown, go, it's fantastic).

Then, we headed down to Hollywood.

 

I'm always hesitant to bring people to Hollywood, because it's never really what they expect. It's overrun with tourists, it's not pretty or glamourous, and it's just kind of.... awkward, it feels like.

The best addition I've seen to the Hollywood/Highland Center, though, was the Sweet! shop. All candy, everywhere. And a creepy Johnny Depp version of Willy Wonka wandering around, so be aware....

• My kids think public transportation is the funnest. Which is awesome, because I LOVE IT TOO!

•  Then we left my baby brother at a hostel in Hollywood so he could roam freely without an underage entourage, and do whatever 25 year old kids do in Hollywood. It was a long day.

• Sunday, we went down to San Diego, where I almost LOST MY MIND over finding parking in La Jolla. Some sort of car nonsense was happening, and everyone in the universe was in La Jolla, and after a few hours of driving around and getting yelled at by parking lot attendants in Vons, I quit, and we left for Old Town and Seaport Village.

• I started saying that I haven't done much running since my brother got here, but I'm dumb, and actually looks like I did a decent amount of running while he was here. 5 miles last Wednesday, 2 (hahahaha) miles Saturday, and 13 (slooooow) miles on Monday.


• Someone asked who runs 13 miles on a week night. The answer: Someone who has a marathon in 19 days (now 17....) and has skipped almost every long run. That's who.


• The 13 wasn't bad. Dare I say, it felt best from about mile 10 on.... and I would have kept going, but I was hungry, and it was already 7pm.





• I don't know why I don't refuel with beer more often. It's so delicious.


• It has crossed my mind that perhaps I'm avoiding running because it feels so hard. And that it feels so hard because I keep avoiding it.


• Our gym got new equipment recently, and I've been complaining (in my head) that the treadmills suddenly feel SO MUCH HARDER than the old ones did. I assumed that it was me and my diminished running capacity (i know, drama llama). Then Becka sent me a text about HER gym getting new treadmills, and they ALSO feel so hard. Conclusion: There is a treadmill conspiracy against us.


• This weekend, I have my last (only?) long run for Eugene. I hope I don't die.

• 5 points if you know who sang the song referenced in the title.