Hello you guys! I hope you had a great first week back into real life. It sure was very tough for me to sign onto work this week…after two weeks of relaxing holiday bliss, my job is now in full blown “busy season” and we went straight into all-hands-on-deck-mode. I’m definitely bracing myself for some hectic-ness these next few weeks!
Nevertheless, I’m so glad I had this weekend free to unwind, catch up on errands, and do several activities on the active side while catching up with friends.
Friday
Friday evening was incredibly low-key. I’m in the process of selling ALL the furniture in my room and redecorating. It really changes your view of living somewhere once you feel like you’re going to stay, and so I wanted to invest more on things that would make me feel more at home (like this 40-inch TV finally, woohoo!).
I spent most of the evening building my new desk, bookshelf, and TV stand, and putting up new decorations. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s already coming together in the way I was picturing :).
The rest of the evening was spent watching the new season of Black Mirror (which is SO GOOD) and calling it an early night.
Saturday
Feeling well-rested and ready for an active day ahead, I started off with a 6-mile run along my favorite Marina/Presidio trail. It had been raining in SF all week (hello Bay area winter…) and I was SO excited to see the sun come up for this weekend.
Afterwards, I caught up on some shopping and errands, made lunch, and then it was time to meet up with Julia and Rahul for mountain biking in Marin. I had never tried mountain biking before, but they are both pretty big bikers and it was so perfect to have experienced guides for my first go at it!
We first drove up to Julia’s mom’s house in Fairfax – it was nice to be in a familiar home as Julia hosted me for Thanksgiving in November :). Her whole family are bikers and so I had my choice of mountain bikes. I love the sturdy frame and large wheels of mountains bikes over road bikes; it felt more comfortable and safe, and I immediately fell into a groove with my bike.
The first leg of our ride was 20 minutes on the back roads to get to the trail. It was so nice to explore with guides as I just kicked back and followed Rahul, not having to worry about navigating a new area. Then we made it to our trail in Lagunitas Lake.
The first portion of the trail was completely UPHILL and we powered away. I actually really enjoyed the slow-but-steady nature of mountain biking versus the high-cadence-nature of road biking which always seems like “go, go, go”. I had to get off my bike a few times to make it up the steeper portions :P, while Rahul and Julia were champions and biked the entire way up. They were super patient with me and we took our time, enjoying the AMAZING views along the way. Oh the views…between the gorgeous lighting peaking through the trees, the reflective lake, and view of mountains for miles, this was hands down one of my favorite trails yet.
The funny thing about biking is you do hours of working uphill for 15 minutes of flying downhill. It was a fantastic rush and so worth it :). During the entire ride, the three of us non-stopped chatted away. I absolutely love spending time with the two – they also just moved into an apartment 5 blocks away from mine, and we are all so excited to be walking distance from each other now!
Our ride totaled right around 20 miles. Given the elevation gains too, it was quite the work out! We ended the afternoon by going to a biker bar in town that served German hot dogs and the best kombucha in town. A well-earned meal that completely hit the spot.
My first mountain biking experience completely exceeded my expectations. It was a lot more fun, challenging, and adrenaline-inducing than I imagined. The whole time I kept awing at how much fun I was having and felt like a little kid tagging along with mom and dad :P. The three of us talked about our future outdoorsy adventures and we for sure will go on more of these again!
Afterwards, the three of us had some downtime at Julia’s mom’s house before it was time to go back to SF. Princess got our crew together for a girl’s night at a Madrone Art Bar which was having a Michael Jackson themed night. After a 6 mile run and 20 mile bike ride, it definitely took some rallying to go out, but I’m so glad I did because it turned out to be a great time unwinding over beer and dancing. Even though our girl crew all just saw each other in Tahoe last weekend, I got withdrawal pretty quickly from them, and it’s always a good time being together ❤
Sunday
Sunday had the best of both worlds of being productive and lazy. Anna and I got together for a hot yoga class downtown. This class was a complete 180 from our usual one. It was fast paced, very advanced (she had us trying headstands!), and had tons of randomness sprinkled in to make it quite the experience (like a massage at the end with eucalyptus oil). Overall, I probably preferred our usual class at Yoga To The People, but it was fun to branch out for once and try something new 🙂
Smoothies to treat ourselves (and our hangovers :P) afterwards
Then the two of us went back to my apartment, cleaned up, and then walked over to the boys’ apartment for Sunday football. Boy does it feel good to go back to our tradition <3. Ending the week with football with “the fam” is one of my favorite things.
Instead of our usual pizza order, we ordered vegan burgers this time since Anna, Karan AND Matt are all going vegan for the new year. I was not super thrilled to hear about this but nevertheless I supported and proceeded to enjoy my soy burger 🙂
The rest of the day was super lazy filled with relaxing, groceries, shopping for more furniture online, and enjoying some peace and quiet in my apartment. Perfect end to this active weekend.
I Run Like A Girl 