when in rome. [or new york city].

so i've been non-stop at work. literally non-stop.i am exhausted. i need a vacation. i need to exhale.

on the positive, it has been good because when you're going 24/7 about something you're passionate about and enjoy, it helps to drown out some of the "life" noise which in retrospect is absurdly outrageous and doesn't deserve thought space in my mind. as i type this poorly written (with grammar and spelling circa that of cw age 8) blog entry,  i'm taking a breather in my hotel in NYC. You see i'm here on a business trip that was a little unplanned, but has so far been a great few days.the twin moved to NYC a few months ago and i was able to see her for dinner and swing into her office early one morning. despite not getting enough sleep, i've made it into central park to run in one of my favorite places everyday but today, (day off by choice, my legs are seriously shot), and the energy and excitement of this meeting has been so good with our Canadian retail partners.

nonetheless, my heart shed a few tears when the trip was added to my calendar and i couldn't go see my adored Scottish lyrical princes, Frightened Rabbit for their show in Boston..i discovered them the first week i moved myself across the country at the end of January of 2009. i remember sitting in my chair, listening to "Last Tango in Brooklyn" on repeat, and being completely blown away. I fell in love with their sound, and their ability to vocalize emotions through word pairings and analogies that are completely unexpected and perfect. (is that you / in front of me/ coming back for even more/ of exactly the same thing / you must be a masochist)  I proceeded to buy all of their two albums, and most recently their fantastically acclaimed, "The Winter of Mixed Drinks". This album has definitely put them into the minds and ears of many listeners otherwise uninformed of their music, and rightfully so, as the album is brilliant and beautiful.

so here's what happened. i got on the train to NYC, listening to Frightened Rabbit in my ipod, and i decided i am cw. not some ordinary, pushover, mopester chick. i make things happen. i get it done when i want to get it done. and i wanted to see Frightened Rabbit, [she says, standing in her size 7.5 frye boots on her imaginary portable pedestal]. So thanks to Google on my blackberry,  my friend John, Craigslist, and $50 bucks later.... we were sitting at The Republic for some pad thai in Union Square, and a few drinks and an hour afterward, found ourselves memorized in Webster Hall by the brilliance and romance of this band that makes my heart full and my soul melt. i must also acknowledge i have an incredible B-to-the-O-Double-S who stood there at a bar with me after account meetings during the Boston marathon and listened as i annoyed him, exchanging lyrics back and forth with one of his friends. When the ole boss received my pleading texts from the Amrtrak that i had a chance to see them in NYC, i was absolutely free to skip out on food drinks and hockey with our O' Canada retail partners we are hosting here. oooooh how i heart good people.

The show, the setlist, and the crowd were amazing. i found myself admitting, (to myself), that being hurt by someone actually makes me appreciate bands like Frightened Rabbit even more. They sing with such raw emotion, such blunt honesty that it makes you realize hurt happens. it doesn't make you a stupid girl. it doesn't make you "that girl," or the one who lost. hurt fuels some of the most beautiful music out there.... and i actually think i have realized it'll make me appreciate the non-hurt parts of life. (my ability to cryptically communicate went out the window with my work schedule so ill just spell it out that in this particular case; i'm referencing a sitch w/ a b-to-the-oy that i am finally done wasting energy thinking about). that said, they played a variety of songs from their three albums, including The Wrestle (my fav from their new album). With an encore of Poke and Keep Yourself Warm, i left Webster Hall with a bursting soul, a greater love for my scottish band, and the satisfaction that i didn't let this slip by me, not resigning myself to my schedule and just settling for the tunes through my ipod.

remember your portable pedestal friends. it's always there and ready for you to hop up on when you should.

xo from NYC,
cw

America.

ooooh man.
so i was going to blog about some life things + music things to share with whomever is reading; like the fact that The Wrestle by Frightened Rabbit has been in my ears for 2 weeks... And then i made plans to meet a friend for a 630AM run, which means i am NOT able to wake up extra early to do the powerpoint i haven't yet completed for Canada (not literally Canada, running specialty stores from Canada that we'll be hosting in NYC). You see i had one of those very unproductive work days on friday....and so.... well, so i didn't get this *not-difficult-at-all-and-why-did-i-eat-twenty-twizzlers- and-NOT-do-this-presentation-yet days.

AND, as the night would have it, on the good ole internet that i encountered upon opening up my computer to actually DO this presentation, i saw an ad for the History Channel's special on "America The Story of Us"... and basically it is going to be amazing. yes, basically.

so i will watch it....
because i'm fascinated by history and wished i'd listened closer when i was 12. but i would have never known that at 12.
and i'll maybe do the outline to this presentation? yes. that was intended to be a question for all of us.
and i'll meet my friend to run.
and cram in the presentation before the 10:30AM meeting i have.
or maybe i won't.
and i'll find myself on an amtrak doing a presentation.
but that happens a lot.

xo,
cw

*editors note: it may have been twenty-one twizzlers. maybe twenty-two. they are in bulk and were just sitting there and they looked so bored.

i am in love.

with these.
but they are two-hundred AND thirty-eight dollars (i thought using the letters as opposed to the numbers really drives the point home).
a good thesis statement has three supporting points. So....
1) they are adorable
2) they dress up a summer dress or dress down some skinny jeans
3) heel height is not flat; but enough for a 5'5 girl to be 5'6+

what-the-french-TOAST. two-hundred AND thirty-eight?
i'll be stalking the anthropologie sale items for these, "solar knots" sandals (i know, did you melt too?) this stalk tactic worked once with a bathing suit. i have an adorable little light blue greek-ish bikini. just need the boy and the island and i'm all set. come to think of it; these sandals would look just super with it too...

xo,
cw

three years ago today i woke up in the middle of the night.

i wasn't sleeping. it was my first trip out of the USA, and i was in south china with brooks sports, i was there to work on shoes. i woke up and my blackberry light was flashing on my desk, so i decided to get up and go through emails being written at a normal hour back in seattle.

amongst the emails was one from my boyfriend at the time, and one from my boss. both telling me to call them right away. my heart started pounding, something had happened. i sat in my dark room and dialed the phone, and moments later i'd receive tragic news that is so unbelievable to fathom and simply impossible to believe. a friend, colleague and sparkling soul had been taken from us tragically that morning. she'd been on a run, headed to a track workout, and struck by a car that jumped the curb as she stretched, waiting for the 'walk' sign.

to this day, i cannot even fathom that this happened. that her mile pace, the timing of the light, the car, and her specific location had the outcome it did. i sat in bed that night until it was light, sobbing, reaching out to close friends and family to try to feel comfort.

i met my dear, dear friend Jen Kelly in the hallway for our scheduled run, and through my swollen eyes and sobs, she hugged me, and i'll never forget how tight she held onto me. i couldn't even get out the news... and when i finally could, we stood there in the hallway of the Royal Lagoon in Dongguan, China at 6AM on the 3rd floor, and we just cried.

and then we ran.

we ran in a place so far away from what had happened, so far away from our company that was banding together like a family, and so far away from anything we knew. but we ran because that's what we do. and i think because that's all we could do, and because that's what Liz did, and with talent and ease and naiveness in her ability that was beautiful to watch.

i can't claim to have been one of Liz's best friends, but i can claim to be a friend that totally hit it off. we shared shoes, i promised her early pairs since she was my size and because of my job i got them early, and i'd sit at her desk and yapp, often staring right at her bumper sticker on her monitor, "life is short. run long". the day before the accident she returned my yellow Racer ST's to my desk; emailing me that she ran a PR in the 10K in them and when i'm back we must go to jamba juice. she put those flats back on my desk the last night she'd be with us. i felt strange about having those shoes; shoes her bare feet ran in doing the thing she was so, so good at, and doing it for the last time on this planet. i thought about giving them to her parents, but in the end decided not to, that i'd keep them.

one morning a month or so later i decided to wear them. i wore them on a run down to greenlake, and ran right into my friend and colleague that had the greatest affect on her. He was her mentor, he inspired her, and it became known after we lost her that Liz was completely in love with him. i saw him, and instantly he was flying by me, but he pointed at my shoes, shouting, "RACER STs!" i thought it was strange. i had rarely seen this person on a run. i rationalized it as a moment of serendipity, until it happened two more times, and the only two more times i wore that shoe. i promise you this happened.

i tend to like three's... and after that i thought, 'enough,' and i put them away and in a box, forever.

when we lost Liz it changed our company, changed our brand forever, and changed something in all of us. this was not just any girl. it was a girl who's presence just shined, a girl who when she was on this earth, was talked about how amazing of a person she was. she was a girl who slapped your butt in the kitchen at lunch, who gave encouraging words when you were injured, who had the most genuine and endearing way about her. we were lucky to know her, and though i knew her for only six months, i think about that girl all the time.  There is a shoe called the Defyance, the LD on the tongue label is for her. she was supposed to have the first verision of that shoe... a size 7.5, just like me... and she never got it. a pair sits for her, bronzed on a bench in her honor on a path near the office where she did what she loved.

we miss you Liz, thank you for entering our lives and giving us something we didn't have before. you are an example of leading a life with integrity, cherishing the people and passions you love, and exuding a light so bright we needed sunglasses. hope you're PRing up there in a pair of your own racing flats.

xo,
cw

it has begun....

the mayhem of the boston marathon, that is.

just got back from a lovely dinner with the Runner's World crew.... hysterical conversation and copious amounts of wine had by all. and yes, i'll eat the accidentally delivered extra desert, thank you very much.
it will be a fun, busy, insane time had by all. i love this time of year. people come into town whom i adore, we all work hard but play hard afterward, and i'm pumped to be with a company putting our footprint on the city. look out for a certain shoe plastered across the boston bus and T stations, bus billboards, and trolly cars. perhaps a certain coffee and wine drinker might've even had to do a news spot (dang it, why was i wearing white)?

lookin' forward to the laughs and hugs with great human beings and the reminders that life is indeed fantastic.....
check in with ya next week.
xo,
cw

check it out.

we got another thing comin' undone.

The National's new album hits May 11th.... and in the meantime i'll leave you with one of their unreleased songs i was lucky enough to hear live about a year ago here in Boston.

The song is titled, "The Runaway," and i love it for many, many reasons. I also don't think the meaning of the words is as obvious as one would assume. In fact, I am certain of this.
Enjoy.
xo,
cw

things i am happy for.

sometimes it's good to make a quick list when you need to put the soul and mind on the offense against a thing that makes you not so happy. so here's my short list. it could be much, much longer, but you get the point.

• Running on the Reston paths each time I visit home.
• Flitting from an array of subjects with Dor, often backtracking to talk about something we've already discussed, but this is what we do... so that's just fine.
• Quimby-girl and her sweet, lovely, adorableness; and finding mud from the backyard in Emily's bed because it means she can still jump up, despite her shaky hips.
• Dad’s baseball tie in honor of opening day.
• Tweeked muscles in lower backs that heal quickly (knock on wood).
• A complimentary and unsolicited email sent about me at work that I am not copied on, but then hear from my boss was written to someone important.
• Visiting The Sartorialist when I don’t want to think but just look at amazing fashion and the art of a photog.
• Deciding, while getting ready, not to go out Friday but instead opt for a 2 hour phone call, (still with a a towel on my head) with JKA about ‘the latest’… and her completely understanding.
• Being grumpy going to the early Easter service, only to be thankful we didn’t go to the late service so that the familiar arms of a now cancer-free 8 year old could be wrapped around my neck.
• Mom sending me back to Boston with clementines and cadbury bunny eggs in my purse.
• Sitting in the middle seat, with my peep toe heels on the hump, between two adult sisters on the way to Easter lunch so that i diffuse any possible car argument.
• Waking up and knowing I didn't move a millimeter in my sleep.
• Sisters. 
• Tickets to The National with an equally die-hard, melts-over-the-lyrics fan.
• Compliments on my scarf. Yes, plural.
• The universal head nod to runners at passing.
• A Google shared document between a hilarious friend.
• Leaked songs on one of my music go-to sites before an album hits. That I listen to on repeat. And make everyone in the cubes next to me hear on repeat too.
• being inconsistent when i capitalize and when i lowercase. fine, punctuation as well.
• The perfectly posed picture with my pup turned giant-lick-to-the-face at the last second.

xo,

cw