GAH!

Too long since I've posted!

Let's start with the bad news. That I've already gone sort-of-public with, on Twitter, and I've known in my heart for a while.

I'm not running the Distance Run this weekend.

I'm very unhappy about it, but the fact is, I let my emotions get the better of me and neglected my training far too much over the month of August. Could I fake it? Probably. But I might actually hurt myself, and I know I'd be disappointed with my performance. I know myself, and the last thing I need is to spend 13 miles ragging on myself for failing to train.

The good news? I still get to hang out with a bunch of blogheads coming into town this weekend for the race!

The BETTER news? The (inadequate) amount of training that I DID do leaves me in a good place. My knee is OK, my endurance is OK, and I'm ready to start training for the Philly Half in November, which I just registered for!

On to the fun stuff. It's been a while since I've posted. Part of it is that this has been an insane week at work, and I just haven't had time. Part of it (the BETTER part) is that it was an equally insane weekend - but I was too busy HAVING FUN. Saturday we made an impromptu decision to have some of my siblings over to watch the Penn State game and make dinner. Sunday we hung out with some friends from law school who I haven't seen in forever. Add to that the cleaning and house-prepping, and the gym-ing and grocery shopping, and BAM! that's a full and fun weekend.

Last Friday (god, has it seriously been that long?) PhillyGuy and I went out to celebrate our anniversary. Yup - Monday marked two.freakin'.years since we got all dolled up and said "yup, you're the one" in front of our friends and family.



To celebrate, PhillyGuy made us reservations at R2L, a restaurant at the top of Two Liberty. We started with a drink at the bar while they got our table ready -- and he managed to snag us a very private, corner table that looked out over the Western part of the city.





Frankly, I expected this place to be decent food and all ambiance. I was blown AWAY - it far exceeded my expectations. We started with a braided loaf of pretzel bread while we perused our menus.



Appetizers were bacon-wrapped scallop potstickers and crisp cheese risotto.



Risotto balls might be up there with the greatest decadent treat inventions.





We split a bottle of wine with dinner. After seeing Murphy-Goode Liar's Dice zinfandel on Jenna's blog so many times, I was very excited to see it on the wine list. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the world's worst picture of a delicious bottle of wine:



PhillyGuy also had french onion soup. The presentation was fun, but the soup itself was pretty "meh."



We also split two entrees. The veal, served five ways - including a meatloaf, a brisket, tenderloin, sweetbread and a gravy - tossed with potatoes:



and the halibut, seared and served over a smoky corn salad:



Un.Be.Lieve.Able. I can't pick a favorite, but I guess I'm leaning towards the halibut? Or maybe the veal? Or the risotto...GAH I DON'T KNOW.

I ended with a cappuccino, and we shared two dessert plates.



I love artistic foam! Beignets (which were actually a variety of fried pastries, including donuts, beignets, and an apple fritter) and a trio of dipping sauces:



and the "Cinnamon Toast Crunch." you had me at "donut ice cream."



I would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this place for a swanky night out. The view was amazing, the ambiance was fun (if a little slick), but the food far surpassed my expectations.



Oh, and just in case you were wondering what we did on our ACTUAL anniversary?

Sweet Lucy's BBQ in the northeast.





I may love me some sweetbreads and cappuccino, but ribs and messy, vinegary Carolina BBQ sauce is where it's REALLY at for me.