Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dinner. Show all posts

Friday, August 3, 2018

Napoleon Exhibit (Friday Five Edition)

For my parents birthday (they both have a birthday on the same day) last month we celebrated by going to dinner at Amuse which is in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and then see the new exhibit about Napoleon. 


Since it was my dad's 80th birthday, I wanted to surprise him with a bunch of balloons that said "Happy 80th Birthday".  It turns out that I couldn't take them in the museum with me.  So I had to run back to my car and leave them there.  Dinner was amazing as usual.  We love going there for dinner.  After dinner I told my mom that I would take the presents that I had given them and put them in her car.  With my hands full I went to the parking garage and to the top floor to their car.  I went down 3 levels to my car to get the balloons.  Then back up three flights to their car to put the balloons in their car.  Wow that was exhausting.

After dinner we went to visit the Napoleon exhibit.  This was a very interesting exhibit.  I never knew much about Napoleon except he was short, always stuck his hand in his jacket, and tried to take over a lot of Europe.

There were a lot of paintings.


And more paintings. 


And clothing that was featured in paintings.


And the hat.


It also had a lot of explanation and history throughout the exhibit.  I felt like I learned more that evening then I had in some of my history classes.  They even had an Emperor's seat where it videoed you and put your image on the wall like a painting.

Me in the chair.


Me and my dad watching the video of us, which was used to project our image on the wall.


My dad in the fake painting on the wall.


The VMFA always brings very interesting exhibits to Richmond.  I'm glad we were able to see this one.

Do you have a favorite or memorable exhibit that you have seen at a museum? 



I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Magic Kingdom 2018 (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

I'm finally getting to my Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend recaps from April.


In case you missed previous posts from the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend:
After showering and stretching and resting a little, I met up with Kelly and Franklin to get something to eat.  I love going to the parks with Kelly as she knows all the good things to do that I didn't even know existed.  I hadn't been to Magic Kingdom since my first time doing a runDisney event at Disney World in 2014 and wanted to do it Kelly-style.

We got into the park and the first thing we saw was the "Move It! Shake It! Dance & Play It! Street Party" parade.


It was fun to see it, but man was it crowded.  So we moved on to Tomorrowland.

We didn't have a FastPass till 12:45, which was the Buzz Lightyear ride, so we wondered around finding something to ride.  We headed onto the Peoplemover.


I had been on it in 2014 and found that it's a nice relaxing ride.


There were great views of the castle.


The race track.


And the park.  It really is a nice way to see Tomorrowland.


We headed over to get a picture with Buzz himself before we went over to ride his ride.  There was a mother in line in front of us that was on the phone and not paying attention to her kid.  The Cast Members had to come over a couple times to ask the kid to stop doing something and the mother barely acknowledged them.   Buzz saw my medal and asked if I ran.  He was very impressed.


We still had a little more time before our FastPass, so we headed into Monsters Inc Laugh Floor.  I had never seen the show and I was told by both Kelly and Franklin that it would be great.  Once we got into the theater and took our seats, it was one funny joke after another.


Mike was our MC while Roz was there to make sure there was no funny business going on, though that was the point.  We were told that we wouldn't be able to be let out till the tank was filled and the more you laughed the more it filled.


Several different monsters came out to tell us jokes.  They would talk to and about audience members.  The improv was fantastically funny.  The people behind the sceens doing the jokes right on the spot were amazing.  This is the type of show that would be different every time you saw it.


After the show it was time for our FastPass at Buzz Lightyear.  I've done this ride as well as the counterpart in Disneyland and it's so much fun.


Within the first shots, I hit something that was worth 100,000 points.  And then I hit it again.  So within the first minute of the ride, I had over 200,000 points and I had no idea what I had hit to do that as I was just remembering how to aim and was just shooting all over the place.  By the end I had almost 400,000 points.  I've never scored that high!


After that we headed back out and towards Aventureland.  Another beautiful shot of the castle.


When we made it to the center area there was another parade going on.  This time it was the "Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire" parade.  We stopped and watched a little of it.


Once in Adventureland we decided to get a Dole Whip.  While I know I tried one in 2014, I don't remember being very impressed with it and wondered what all the hype was.  Trying it again, it was fabulous.  Not sure if my taste buds were off last time or what, but it is definitely a must have when down there.


We decided to head to the Tiki Room to eat our treats.  I had only been once at Disneyland and loved it, so yes, we had to go back and see the show.  The guy that started the show was hilarious!  He could have been part of the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor.


After the wonderful singing we heard, we made our way out of Aventureland and to Frontierland.  It was time for our FassPasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Last time I was here, it was closed down, so this was a first for me.  I was very excited for it.  I do have to say that I loved it and wished that the line wasn't so long so we could ride again.


Ride selfie!


We decided to head over to Tom Sawyer's Island.  I have never been there and thought it might be fun.  Though I have to say by then my feet were starting to not be happy. We had to take a very short boat trip across the water first.


We headed up the path and decided to go into Old Scratch's Mystery Mine.  I hated it.  I'm very claustrophobic and the floors and walls were not even.  And it just kept getting smaller and tighter.  I wanted out as fast as possible.


There were some great views of Big Thunder Mountain from there.


We headed over to explore Fort Langhorn.  It had a barn like area that had audio animatronic horses, black smiths, and chickens, all which made sounds. There was also a jail.


On the second floor they had areas where you could pretend to shoot rifles, known as a Rifle Roost.


And some beautiful views of the water.


We decided to head to the main land.  Both Kelly and I were getting very tired but Franklin wanted to head up to the Mill while we waited for the boat.  He said that it was a mill, nice to see, but we didn't miss anything.


We still had some time before our last FastPass so we ended up at It's a Small World.


And we are heading into the tunnel of worlds.  Rider selfie!


I have to say that I think I enjoy the holiday theme of this ride.  It is fun to see it decorated for the holidays and it does give your ears a break from just one song.


Our next FastPass were in separate directions.  Because I had issues with my ticket, the reservations that I had got lost and we had to do last minute adjustments so that I could ride at the same time as them.  The one ride it didn't work on is the Seven Dwarfs ride.  This is another ride that was closed when I was there last time and really bummed me out that I would miss it this time as well.  Kelly and Franklin headed to the Seven Dwarfs and I went to the Haunted Mansion.


The ride is fun to see the special effects.  It's just not one that I would not wait in line for.


Since my FassPass was a little earlier then theirs I took my time heading to the restaurant for dinner.  My sunglasses had broken earlier in the day so I looked at the expensive ones that they were selling in a shop in Aventureland.  I couldn't see spending that much on sunglasses but it was fun trying them on.

I headed to the Skipper Canteen where we were having dinner.  I met up with Kelly and Franklin who where already there.  I was surprised that they beat me there and they said that the Seven Dwarfs ride was broken and they were not able to ride.  Well that made me feel a little better about not getting a FassPass with them.


I had never eaten there, but they had and raved about it.  We got seated and then had to wait almost half an hour to have someone take our drink orders.  Being tired and hungry was not a good combination to have when the wait staff was backed up.  On top of it, our table was right in the middle next to the door so there was a lot of traffic right around us.  It just was awkward.

For an appitizer I had the Orinoco Ida's Cachapas which was corn pancakes toped with pork, black bean salad and avocado cream.  OMG that was so goood!!!!  I could have had a bigger portion for my meal.  YUM!!


For my entree, I had the Sankuru Sadie's Seafood Stew.  This was just OK.  The seafood was good, but I was not a fan of the sauce.  So I pulled the seafood out and ate it with the rice.

By the time we were done and had to wait extra, we were done.  All I wanted to do is get off my feet.  Though on the way out we did stop by one of the shops because Kelly wanted to get one of the seasonal Alex and Ani bracelets.  I ended up getting a BB-8 bracelet while we were there.  And I got a replacement pair of glasses, too.  Not the best, but they would do to get me through the rest of the weekend.







Continue reading about my Star Wars Dark Side Weekend with the 10k.

Have you explored Tom Sawyer's Island?  Have you submitted a joke to the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor?  If not, do you have a joke?  What's your favorite ride at Magic Kingdom?



Friday, May 11, 2018

Princess Half Marathon vlogs (Friday Five Edition)

I finished up my last videos from Princess.  There are a few clips that I had a hard time blocking out the announcements.  So sorry in advance.  I hope you enjoy!

If you missed, here are the other vlogs from the weekend.

Princes 10k



Princess Half




Celebration Dinner






I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Monday, April 16, 2018

Weekly Update (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

It's been a crazy week for me!


Monday I was supposed to run before work but it rained.  I even saw snow flakes in the air as I drove to work.  I don't run when it rains and it's below 50 degrees.  Too miserable.

Someone at my work has gotten a standing desk.  I was going to wait till I was full time to ask about it, but she said that she could get one, but the company wouldn't pay for it.  I had a standing desk for years and loved it, so I checked Amazon just to see what they had.  I wasn't planning on buying one right away, but I found one that had a 25% coupon.  That deal was too good to pass up.  It arrived Monday and got it all set up.  Love it!

Tuesday I went to my FT class at the gym.  Just a normal class.

I got a call the day before from my eye doctor who said that I was going to have to reschedule my May appointment I made last year.  Either I could go Tuesday to the office across town or wait till the end of June.  Since my contacts have been crazy dry, I opted to go on Tuesday.  I schlepped across town in the middle of the day for my appointment.  He has me trying new daily contacts (my last ones were monthlies).  These are of the latest technology and a lot more expensive then the ones I've had for years.  We will see how they work for me.


That evening I went to a meetup for those that do the same thing I do.  I don't know if they have it for other industries, but in IT there are monthly meetups for everything from .Net to SQL to Networking.  Mine is about the Agile community.  Each month there is a different speaker to discuss different aspects of the community.  The topic interested me, and while I didn't feel like I learned anything new, it made me feel better that I was on the right track.  I also saw someone there from my last job.  It was interesting to catch up and hear what's happening over there now.

Wednesday I got out and did my 5 mile run.  It was around freezing again and I wore my new fleece tights I had gotten a couple weeks ago and it hasn't been cold enough when I ran to wear.  I was worried that the waist was a little loose and I'd just spend the run pulling them up, but it never did that.  They also had a draw string that helped as well.  These are definitely a keeper.

While my knees started feeling better on my runs last week, Wednesday it felt tight again.  No sharp pain to make me stop running, but it nagged at me the whole run.  I probably shouldn't have done the full 5, but I haven't been running much lately and felt like I needed to get them in.  I had a PT appointment that evening and he worked a bit on the same area as last week and found some interesting spots around the same place, but on the outside of the leg.

Wednesday night I had another bad night's sleep.  I hadn't been able to sleep through the night and am up for 2-4 hours in the middle of the night.  My mind is just racing so much that it wakes me up and I can't get it to stop to be able to fall back asleep, even with all my little tricks.  I still dragged myself to the gym for my class.

With the Ukrop's 10k on Saturday the Expo is held Thursday and Friday with no packet pickup the day of the race.  I headed there after work on Thursday.  They had changed venues and I had to go across town to get there.  I understand why they changed venues as the race has grown and where they normally have it, there isn't enough parking.


Of course I got there after work with most people, and I knew it would be a pain to get in and park.  I have done several events there and knew that there was plenty of parking.  What I didn't understand was, with several entrances, why they had the cars come in where people had to cross the traffic to get into the building.  So there was a lot of stopping to wait for pedestrians as well as when you were walking to the building a lot of waiting for cars to pass.  That could have been done a lot better.

The expo itself looked identical from the last venue.  I got my bib, shirt, and shuttle ticket.  I ran into a running friend and said hello.  I didn't see anything interesting at the official merchandise section.  And all the other booths were the same.  I dropped off a pair of used sneakers.  Looked to see if anyone had my shoes with a good discount (they didn't).  And then I couldn't find my way out!  This was not a very big Expo, just everything was high enough not to see any doors.  And there were no signs for exits.  I asked a volunteer and he pointed me in a direction.  I still couldn't find it and eventually after looking around a corner I saw a door.  I was free!

Thursday night was another horrible nights sleep.  It even got to the point where I just got up and started getting things ready for the race on Saturday.  Awake for another 3 hours in the middle of the night and falling back asleep just in time for the alarm to go off.

Friday I did get up for my run.  It was now in the mid 50's which meant shorts and a shirt.  So different from Monday and Wednesday.  I wanted to get another 5 miles in, but I told myself that if my knee hurt I would stop.  And if it was tight I would only do 3 miles.  Within the first 100 feet it was tight, just like it was on Wednesday.  So 3 miles it was.  As I was heading round to finish the second mile I kept thinking of the fact I had a 10k the next day and a weekend of running next weekend.  I looped around the block and called it quits at 2 miles.  This close to races I'd rather rest then get the miles in that I need and hurt myself further.

That afternoon I had to take my old lady cat to the vet for more blood work.  While a month ago we found her kidneys are doing wonderful, her liver numbers were very low.  She doesn't act like a cat that has something wrong, as she has just been her normal self.  The vet has her on a daily pill and wanted to see how the numbers were as well as check her thyroids.  Well the pill was helping and the issues is definitely her thyroid.  So she doesn't have to take the daily pill anymore, but has a daily liquid now.  We will be back in a month to see how that is doing.


After the vet I dropped her off and headed downtown to meet my parents for dinner.  We have a yearly subscription to local plays around the city.  This play was Romeo & Juliet and it was at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which also has a really good restaurant in it.  We had a good dinner and a wonderful bottle of wine.  We were taking our time as we thought the play started at 8 and by the time we made our way down a little after 7:30 we found that it did start at 7:30.  Thankfully the people there know us and there were no assigned seats so we made our way down the side to some vacant seats.  I've seen this play many times, but I have to say the lead actors were very good.  And looked very young.


Saturday morning I got up and headed down to the Ukrop's 10k.  I met up with friends before the race.  I ran it on my own and while it was very hot, I felt very strong for the whole race.  My knee was a little tight the whole time, but nothing like it was Wednesday or Friday on my training runs.  There might be hope for the knee next weekend.  We all met up after the race for brunch and to catch up with everyone. 


I went home and showered and took a nice nap.  After a long week, a hot race, and a few mimosas at brunch I really needed it.  Then I went out to dinner with a friend.

Sunday I did nothing!  Well I did get my laundry done, but really that was about it.

See what a busy week I had?  I get to turn around and do it all over again, but this time heading down to Florida for a runDisney race weekend.  I'm going to need some time off when I get home just to rest from these last couple of weeks.

How was your week?  Did you run the Ukrop's 10k?  Was it hot or what?  Have you seen Romeo and Juliet before?


I am linking up with Holly and Wendy for their Weekly Wrap!