Touring and Curing Like a Mo-Fo

Kristen, Me, Lani

Molly and Me 

(We trained for our half marathon together)

Team Mud Mohawks before the race

BFFs

While training for my first half marathon, my friend Janel had mentioned the Tour de Cure and how she rides it to raise money for diabetes, which runs in her family.  I didn't know much about it, and thankfully diabetes has yet to affect anyone in my family, but I said "sure, why not ride in it".  She told Kristen and me about the struggles her team faced last year, including flat tires and poor weather, and the need to train for the ride.  Kristen and I hopped on our bikes and went for a 16 mile cruise.  We thought 16 miles was cake, so 40 would be no big deal, so we sort of "slacked" on the training. And by slacked, I mean that 16 mile ride we took was the ONLY form of bike race training we did.

Our team, Team Mud Mohawks, held a fundraiser Memorial Day weekend at Sully's Pub which was a huge success on multiple accounts. We raised money, we had a good time, and Beaker came for a visit.  Beaker is my drunken alter ego, when he visits, it means my voice goes up a couple of octaves, and those that know me are well aware that narcolepsy sets in quickly and I pass out wherever is most convenient.  I won the 50/50 raffle at the fundraiser, and donated all but $40 back, but then felt guilty for keeping 40 as money to buy everyone drinks with, and threw that in the tip bucket for donation.  We had Wilford Brimley stick masks to play with courtesy of Stacey.  Brimley was a spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association, or as he would say and so did we in our drunken rants "Diabeeeetuuuus".

The day before the Tour de Cure, I went to Towpath Bike Shop and purchased a helmet which was mandatory, riding gloves (which I ended up returning) and a bike riding skort with padded booty.  I looked legit.

The Tour de Cure took place Sunday, June 10th.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day for bike riding. Our team got on the road around 8:30 and away we went.  The hills were awful, that's something I supposed I should have trained for...  I took advantage of rest stops to hydrate and eat.  Kristen and I planned to ride 40 miles, but if that felt too hard we would drop down to 20 miles.  At our first rest stop we decided we were going big, and going to show this 40 mile bike ride who is boss.

Hardcore bikers that train and ride daily were passing us and cheering us on, saying how brave we are to ride 40 miles on a mountain bike.  I had no idea what this meant at first, but then looking at almost EVERYONE else with a road bike and skinny tires peddling with ease, I knew that Kristen and I were in for a major workout.  

The ride took us about 4.5 hours, which included resting, water stops, and killer hills.  I am lucky I got to complete this with my very best friend.  We encouraged each other to keep going, stopped and rested together when we needed to, and shouted profanity when times got tough.  I am so proud of her for doing the 40 mile ride by my side.

We had envisioned a big celebration on a patio with cocktails and appetizers after the ride, but we were beat.  We mixed up some cucumber coolers at her house, which was organic cucumber vodka, club soda, fresh lime, cucumber and mint muddled with a cucumber garnish, something we just whipped up.  Janel came over to celebrate our team victory.  Brian cooked us an awesome dinner of grilled veggies to put on our salads.  

All in all, it was a successful first Tour de Cure, which I plan to partake in next year, and this time rent a road bike for $50 at Towpath, which I found out you can do from another rider as we were just approaching the finish line.  She said she gave us a ton of credit for riding 40 miles on mountain bikes, and asked why we didn’t rent road bikes.  I said "No one told me that was an option"; she replied "Well I'm telling you now".  I pretty much crossed the finish line shouting "Well NOW ya tell me!"

Victory!

"I love gooooooold" ~ Granting Golden Wishes

So I've been a major slacker in the blogging department, but I really haven't been THAT bad with checking items off of the Lys List.  So let me get my blog on!

April 18th 2012 was the day I granted my first Golden Wish.  Let me first explain what this is, as you're probably thinking I've been involved in something at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.  Golden Wishes is a program through Lifespan.  The goal of Lifespan’s Golden Wishes Program is to grant very simple wishes for
older adults in a long term nursing home setting that can't otherwise do so on these things on their own.  Our wish recipients reside at The Highlands at Brighton.  Three individuals requested to see a show at Geva, and the fourth simply wanted to have lunch at Red Lobster.  Through myself and three other volunteers we were able to honor this wish.  I contacted Geva and got tickets donated by the box office for their show "Superior Donuts".  Another volunteer was able to have Red Lobster donate lunch for the four wish recipients.  The Highlands at Brighton was kind enough to donate their bus for transportation for the afternoon.

We all met at Red Lobster, chatted and had lunch, and went on our way to Geva.  One resident even had a glass of wine, which made her day.  A woman after my own heart!

Superior Donuts was a great show, we all enjoyed ourselves.  The residents enjoyed being out and about in Rochester as they used to be able to do unaccompanied.  I found joy in providing the ability for these folks to do so, at no cost or inconvenience to them or their families.  I'm excited to see what other wishes I'll be granting!

Run Lyslys Run! - 13.1 - Ain't No Thang!

Well, I did it. After preparing to check Lys List item #5 off since January I've done it. I ran my first half marathon! I cannot explain how proud of myself and the amazing girls I've met through this process I am. This is by far the hardest thing I have done in my life so far.

I followed the workout plan to the best of my ability, gradually building up to the 13.1 mile race. Every Saturday, we would meet at the Brighton Fleet Feet, where we would run the city as a pace group. Over the past three months I really got to know the girls in my pace group, and boy did they get to know me! We discussed everything over our long runs, from dating and relationships to snot rockets. They put up with my crazy behaviors and shouting obscenities as we trained. I am convinced I had the best pace group imaginable, but I might be biased. Nah... These girls are a tough bunch, and I will be forever grateful for all we shared together. Tina, Ashley (who was not in town to run the half with us but was a huge part of my training success), Sara, Beth, Molly, Christy, Steph, the list goes on. WE DID IT! We are real life long distance runners. I'm not hallucinating!

I normally am comical in my blog posts, but with this one, I've got to be a serious Lys. Once in a while, I can do that. Tina, Ashley and Laura, I am so happy to have met you girls. I love that people ask how we met; they assume we've been lifelong friends, even though it's only been since January. You know my hotmess behaviors, and appreciate every bit of it. Love you ladies!

And to my family and friends that came to support me as I ran the Flower City Half Marathon yesterday, that was the icing on the cake. Words cannot express what a happy Lys that made me! Love you all! Mom, Aunt Jill, Uncle Dave, Kristen, Brian, Cam, Renee, Moose, Chris, Toni.

Lastly, I want to thank Kristi Mullins, who convinced me to do the half marathon training in the first place. She emailed me about the idea, saying she was signing up, and I thought "She's crazy; I'm not ready to run that far, maybe next year." And two minutes later I was signed up! Thank you Kristi for making me feel I could accomplish this. Cheers sista, you are awesome!

And yes, I'm going to be wearing my half marathon medal this entire week. I love attention, you all know that!

What will be my next running adventure? Well that is still TBD, let me bask in this for a bit. FloJo Like a MoFo bitches!!! 13.1, we had a good run! Literally!

Martha Stewart Can Beat It ~ Muffin Top Madness

With a bit of a slump for the Lys List during the winter months, I decided with the nice weather this week it's time to get back into the swing of things, and also get my ass into the kitchen.

Number 42 on my list is "Make Carrot Cake from Scratch". With all my training for my half marathon and warm weather approaching, I figured I'd make this a tad healthier, perfectly portioned (aka cupcakes)/sans cream cheese frosting (aka carrot muffins).

I bought the ingredients to bake my heart out on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, but after a call from my best friend encouraging me to meet her and her husband for a few patio beers, my mind was no longer focused on muffin top madness, and I was now drooling over the thought of a refreshing Blue Moon.

A few days later, after a fabulous yoga class, at around 8:30 pm, I decided it was about that time, time for the Belasco Mansion kitchen to get to the know the Muffin Wo-man.

Baking is not my thing; I usually get scared of recipes with more than 5 ingredients. I get that from my mother, who also doesn't bake, although she makes some kick ass banana bread which I learned later on in life was not her own recipe, but taken from the Autumn Lane Elementary School Cookbook circa 1975.

To my surprise, the carrot cake muffins turned out fantastic. I added a combination of low fat yogurt and Greek yogurt to make the muffins moist and add protein. I even used pretty red and blue polka dot muffin pan liners.

Moral of the story, Martha Stewart ain't got sh*t on me!

You Can Now Call Me The Dirty, Tree Hugging, Hula Hooping Hippie

Since kissing someone at midnight on New Year's was a giant FAIL for the Lys List start of 2012, I decided something needed to be knocked off of the list ASAP. Divas Renee, Shirley and I had purchased an online deal for three hula hoop classes in 2011 and decided to give it a shot.

Class size was limited, about 10 of us total. Everyone had their own hoop except for the three of us. I felt out of place, I like to be prepared. I felt like I had forgotten my number two pencils, perfectly sharpened for finals! We expressed to the rest of the class that this was our "first time", hooping virgins if you will. Everyone assured us that we'd catch on quickly.

The instructor rolls up, with swim trunks on, a polo shirt, and those god awful toe shoes, I guess he missed the memo on proper workout attire. He explained that hula hooping is an excellent core workout. Now, I'm not toned in my midsection by ANY means, but the class claimed they were above beginners, and, well, they certainly weren't "fit". I'm rambling here, but my point is, I didn't have high hopes for this workout.

We caught on quick, three much uncoordinated Divas mastered beginner hooping. Ok, mastered is a little cocky, let's just say we conquered Lys List #50 and we're done here. We may use the other two class vouchers at a different location.

Moral of the story, I can semi hula hoop, but I won't be busting out full body hooping moves at the next Grassroots Festival.

Poppin Bottles, Changing Diapers: Just An Average Day in the Life of Alyss

Most people cannot comprehend the fact that I am 29 years old and have never changed a baby's diaper. Growing up, I wasn't much of a babysitter. I'd be offered the opportunity to watch some kids, and typically was not asked to be a return sitter. And I'm not the girl that sees a baby and does the goo goo ga ga noises and asks to hold them, but I'm working on that.

I am Auntie Yiss, the wine drinking, toy buying, hungover on Chicken Finger Sub Sunday, loud mouthed lady. Christmas night I decided to step that role up a notch and change Cam's diaper. It was sort of sagging and looked pretty full, but I was assured it was strictly #1. I removed the diaper, Kristen applied the "junk" ointment (sorry folks, I'm not there yet, baby steps), then I put a fresh diaper on. Cam was very cooperative, in fact, I'm pretty sure he has already requested that I change his diaper at all times when present, because frankly, I think I did a hell of a job.

Afterwards, he gave me a high five. I love that kid!

"Meat is Murder, Tasty Tasty Murder" - Bolognese 101

To answer your first question "What is Bolognese Sauce?"

Definition from Wikipedia: Bolognese sauce is a meat-based sauce for pasta originating in Bologna, Italy. It is traditionally used to dress tagliatelle and is one of the two sauces used to prepare "lasagne alla Bolognese".

My definition of Bolognese sauce: One word. Tasty.

My Aunt Jill has been making her Bolognese sauce for years to serve with lasagna, which we have every Christmas Eve. In fact, I just learned recently that not everyone eats lasagna at Christmas time; I thought it was a staple holiday entree like turkey on Thanksgiving. Apparently other people eat ham. No thanks. This being my first carnivorous Christmas in 5 years I had decided I would not only try the Bolognese sauce, I'd make it.

My cousin Kacey and I joined my Aunt Jill the day before Christmas Eve at the cottage to make the sauce. We chopped carrots, celery and onions (I did a hell of a job on chopping those onions I might add), we sautéed the veggies in a large pot, then added ground beef and veal and cooked until it was no longer pink. I literally was taking gobs of beef with my bare hands and pulling them apart, a huge step for me! We then added white wine which burned off while we mixed it, then added milk and another secret ingredient that shall remain nameless. Last we added crushed tomatoes and mixed mixed mixed! We made enough sauce to feed an army of Belascos and friends on Christmas Eve. We celebrated our sauce being complete and ready to simmer for hours with a glass of wine, or course.

Sadly, get your tissues ready, I was not feeling well on Christmas Eve so I did not have more than one bite of lasagna. I know, tragic. I did take home some sauce that I plan to eat over spaghetti. And I sure as hell will be making the recipe again in the future!

I've come a long way baby!