Egypt! The days have been packed with sand, pyramids, camels named Lufthansa, and some hard time at the pool. Oh, and there’s a NikeWomen store in the building next door. Who knew that Africa in July would be such a success? My only complaint: no bacon. Yeah yeah, Muslim country.. they don’t know what they’re missing.

A gift from an anonymous source..

(insert caption here)

The Twins go to DC! Well, technically little J already lives there. The real reason for the trip was to try on bridesmaid dresses for the upcoming nuptials of Big Brother. Turns out, a bridal store like David’s Bridal was everything I dreamt it to be and more:

Average bridal customer

The worst part? We had to register our information since the bride didn’t have an account (got her dress elsewhere). Which means we inevitably are on 39473865 wedding mailing lists now, great! But on the bright side, the dresses were cute (& inexpensive), the wedding will be in Puerto Rico, and The Twin bought me a burrito afterward.

After the suburban scare known as Springfield, VA.. we headed off to Georgetown, where I was able to acquire my much-lusted after whale hat from Vineyard Vines!

For professional preps only

First seen at the Head of the Charles last year, I had been on a mission to get one of my own. The VV store in Copley was giving them away to children last November (I was too mortified to ask for one), but finally I was able to procure one in Georgetown!

Afterwards, we headed back to The Twin’s abode in Columbia Heights, where there were presents for yours truly waiting:

Yes, that’s a WALL-E toothbrush, al paca figurine from Peru, and CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON!!

Next day: Nat’s game. Sorry to say to my beloved Bravos, Nationals Field is pretty much the nicest ballpark I’ve been to (although have not made it to the new Yankee Stadium). Even the recycling containers were awesome.

The Twin demonstrates how to recycle at Nat's Field

The best part? The Presidents race, of course. Like sausages except our fearless leaders and not in Milwaukee.

Abe takes a huge lead

But then stops to tear up a Mets sign

George, Tommy J and Teddy all take advantage

But Abe doesn't seem to care

After the game, the Presidents were out and about in the stadium. I got to say hello to GW.

George really liked my new Dooney

And of course, the best president of them all..

Tommy J!

And this is totally unrelated, but I really like this shirt:

Prey Twin weekend = success.

For all those doubters out there (ahem, Skybil), here is some photographic proof of my master-dom.

Also, for my Dean’s award (see next post).. I hope this is like the Heisman, where people have to introduce me as ‘Dean Commended D ana P rey’ in all social situations.

What’s next on the path to world domination?

That’s right! Please address me as ‘master’ from now on. The diploma is entirely in Latin, and my one year in 8th grade Latin class has proven not to be sufficient enough to translate the document. So really, it could just say ‘master of useless knowledge’ and nobody would know the difference.

Also, I can’t believe the time I win an [academic] award, the Dean forgets the list and as result did not announce the names.

Here’s the proof though. It’s legit, y’all.

Update: kylekinnaman http://twitpic.com/5o6lw – Something about seeing the #danahead above AA preggers ad makes me want to fire up the GIMP (formerly Photoshop).

My collegiate cycling career is officially over (well, I could pull a Favre and enroll in another grad program — although I just turned down UVA, so don’t hold your breath). This year went substantially better than last year, and I think it came down to a few new riding philosophies. And a little luck avoiding crashes.

Important lessons learned:

1. Learn to love crits. Last year, I dreaded them, loathed them with a passion. This year, my goal was to be a crit monster. Case and point: my three Top 5 finishes this season: all crits. Who knew?

2. Don’t race to hang on, race to attack and attack again. I try to emulate my racing style after my fave runner and American legend, Steve Prefontaine: “A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more. Nobody is going to win a 5,000 meter race after running an easy 2 miles. Not with me. If I lose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself.” – Pre

3. Train smarter. Last year I spent a lot of time in spin class at my gym, which was more of an aerobics class than a cycling training session. If you’re gonna work your butt off, do it in the right medium. I didn’t train any longer or harder or more often than last year, but I spent a hella lot more time on the trainer this winter. And I can only imagine how much better training would have gone without my two part-time jobs, overloaded course schedule and job search priorities.

Sooo, normally summertime is when I ramp up my running. But I just qualified for some USA Cycling Development Camps, so I’m not sure what to do now, cause that’s pretty sweet. We’ll see. No idea what I’m doing with my life. No idea where I’m living. Et al.

In the latest installment of ‘Who’s Stalking Me Now?’.. search results from the Boston College Cycling Blog:

I’m not sure if I should be more disturbed that people are searching for cyclist porn, cycling butt or yours truly.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

This seems like something right up @Cybil’s alley..

Also might be particularly useful when I don’t have Hillside’s plethora of lunchtime desserts at my fingertips.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (Microwave Safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well..

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous — yeah right).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?
Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

How to race a crit. Or, not.

“it’s always better breaking at inappropriate times so that the rest of the field considers you slightly insane.” -A-dub

This weekend was a double dose of everything — double the races (cycling and running), double the P rey’s (D ana and J enny). Yes, The Twin was in Boston for the marathon to cheer on CB.

First things first: The marathon expo. Like a kid in a candy shop, it was complete sensory overload. The initial stop was at Nike, of course.

Yes, the LunaRacer are the same shoes that yours truly wore in the NYC Half Marathon last summer. They are light as a feather and look like a spaceship. Kara Goucher wore them in the NYC Marathon in the fall too. Oh, and she’s a 10K runner turned successful marathoner.. should I be taking the hint too?

Adidas = official apparel sponsor = 21 years of marathon jackets on display. Another shot. Pretty impressive.

Marathon Monday: We're ready.

After dropping CB off at the shuttle buses at an ungodly hour Monday morning, The Twin and I went back to bed. After our early morning nap, we took our breakfast provisions to Heartbreak Hill and proceeded to wait for the elites and CB to come tearing down the course.

First came the women:

Kara’s race strategy? “Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait SPRINT!” Apparently the race pace was a little slow (if you can call a sub 6-min marathon pace slow), and Kara took third. Not bad considering it’s her 2nd marathon ever. Ryan Hall took 3rd for the elite men. Go America.

And Chris destroyed the elusive 3-hour milestone by more than 5 min. It should be noted that Chris’ marathon success can only be attributed to the forced watching of The Ewok Adventure the night before (i.e. Prey Twin favorite movie of all time).

YUB YUB

We didn’t have time to watch the highly anticipated sequel, The Battle for Endor, but we’re sure that it’s being cued up on Chris’ Netflix as we speak.

My cycling race plan for this weekend? “Maybe we can have a makeup marathon party before the MIT crit and then throw drunken attacks that weave and go slowly and fade rapidly.” Yes, I think we have a winner.

Now, wrapping up life as a graduate student and trying to figure out what to do with my future. I am open to your suggestions..

The third annual Washington Post Peeps contest!

My favorite? #29, the Peep-E one, of course! It’s even made out of bike parts. The Twin likes the As Seen on TV one (#39), Octo-peep (#3) is pretty funny (even though I hate that woman with a passion), and Arethra’s hat rules (#9).

Peeps Show III – washingtonpost.com

GO NOVA!

Let’s hope there’s no phantom traveling call like in ‘o5 against the ‘heels.

Watch this..

Jay Wright has been on Facebook for 1.5 days and already has 1000 fans. So much gets accomplished during my day..

FINAL FOUR BABY!

‘If history repeats itself, I’ll take it,’ coach Jay Wright says of Villanova’s pursuit of its second national title.

“The play that put Villanova in the Final Four [and beat Pitt 78-76] should be known as the Dual Homage,” writes SI.com’s Luke Winn. “The inbounds pass to Dante Cunningham was in the same style of the bomb that Valparaiso threw to Bill Jenkins — to set up Bryce Drew — in 1998, in that both teams entered the ball to a leaping big man rather than the shooter. And the three-quarter-court race that Scottie Reynolds (left) went on after receiving the ball from Cunningham was reminiscent of the mad dash that UCLA’s Tyus Edney used to beat Missouri in 1995. What sets Reynolds’s play apart is what was at stake: Nova’s first trip to the Final Four since 1985 — not just a win in the first weekend of the dance.” – Luke Winn

This is how I roll into Philly for race weekend.

Watch this.

And an interview with Jay Wright and more of the game-winning play.

Hooray! Survived my first crash-free race weekend of the season.

QOTD:
“So fabulous….what i would do for a little Mike’s [Hard Lemonade] right now….even more fabulous — your biking outfit. get some.” -Pink

Cycling weekend recap

Spotted: The Brit on gchat, who has not changed her status message in literally two years.

So I’ve been afflicted with the Black Lung for about two weeks now. Did you know that eating a whole bag of cough drops means you consume well over 400 calories? Over the span of two days per package, this is probably not a good pace to be keeping.

Spotten in Chelsea Market: Sesame Street!

This isn’t a cupcake.. it’s a vessel for frosting.

Did you know.. bacon was invented by the romans in 300 BCE? First aqueducts, now this.

My heart rate monitor just broke on hill climbs, which means either A) it was a cheap piece of crap ($20) or B) my heart exploded. Cast your vote.

Kiss me.. I’m Italian?

Let the real Irish along with the fair weathered and pretend Irish have their day.. at least it involves green beer. We will totally hop on that bandwagon.

New season, new bike, new karma. Or so I thought.

Had a very near miss on the circuit race on Sunday at Rutgers — some MIT girl went down, taking a handful of people with her. I was about two back from that chick, and screeched my way to a halt, barely missing the carnage (front wheel stopped touching the downed bikes). Dropped my chain, and got some lovely grease tattoos on my right calf, but everything else seems to be in order. Was able to finish the race, but lost too much time with the pileup to be competitive.

For the record, that is now FOUR crashes that I’ve been involved in (none where I’m at fault). At least with this one, nothing on my bike or body were broken.

Why am I such a crash magnet? Which cycling god did I piss off?

Theory #1: it wasn’t the Trek bike that was cursed (sold off last Sept), but me.
Theory #2: My race number last year was #130. My race number this year is #103. Unlucky #13?
Theory #3: Clearly, everyone in Women’s B are out to get me. I should upgrade to A’s immediately.

Friends can be supportive (excluding Skybil):
“See, this is why I prefer couch surfing…. Maybe they should invest in some training wheels or something…” -MC

“The main question is…is the bike OK?!” -Kimberdoodle

“Were they updating their twitter accounts from the peloton? Don’t those stupid girls know that only LA and DP can tweet from the peloton without crashing? Amateurs.” -Queen B

“Who let these people have bikes anyways??” -SCR, my life coach and future wedding planner

“that should be easy for you, quadzilla.” -MC’s suggestion that I just lead the front of the pack (and not draft) to avoid crashes

Pics from the weekend can be found here.

Probably the first and last time my future sister in law asks me to do any sort of photo editing for her..

Welcome to the family.

Just to prove to all you naysayers, evidence of yours truly enjoying Tuck Winter Carnival. Southern girl in the snow! (Okay, it was cold).

Unfortunately (or fortunately for the BC kids), no pics will be posted from the 80’s party. Mostly cause we are trying to be as employable as possible. But here’s a nice non-descript overhead shot:

There is one thing to be said, though — Kimberdoodle was born to be an 80’s chick. Seriously. Also, Forever 21 has a frightenly large amount of neon and spandex.

Who knew that Grandma was so hip? The Twin and I received Snuggies for xmas!

Of course, everyone was jealous.

The Twin: “Also, how have you never heard of the snuggie?? it’s on infomercials non-stop.  one of my friends just calls it a backwards robe.  which is pretty true.  and they’re kinda cult-y, but they sure look comfy!”

Although, they kind of look like another kind of robe, of royal emperor variety..

Check out Kimberdoodle in the Snuggie on Facebook. Contain your obvious jealousy!

Also, any bets on whether or not Hassel will notice yours truly wearing the Snuggie during MP4 class tomorrow?

Happy Super Sunday!

Today rivals Thanksgiving in terms of food intake. So the big question is, what to eat?

Might we suggest some bacon? With a side of bacon?

No doubt you’ve seen the Bacon Explosion by now. “Two pounds of bacon woven through and around two pounds of sausage and slathered in barbecue sauce.” Includes 500g of fat. Somehow, we’re guessing it’s not the ‘good fat’.

The Bacon Explosion – Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog. – NYTimes.com

Perhaps you’re going for more of a wow factor? Behold:

Snack food stadium! Includes bacon! (Thanks Jared).

TOTAL CALORIES: 24,375
TOTAL GRAMS OF FAT: 1,285
TOTAL COST: $86.47
TOTAL DELICIOUSNESS: PRICELESS!

The Greatest Snack Food Stadium Ever Built – holytaco.com

And perhaps you are now craving dessert? BOOM:

Want to hear something crazy? The guy who sells this is a vegan. A VEGAN!

Breakfast of Champions

Go Cardinals BACON!

Didn’t you notice that I sang at the inauguration too? Or were you just distracted by my awesome hat?