sleepless

I've gotten a total of maybe 14 hours of sleep over the past three nights combined. (I'll explain.) But somehow I still managed to cut almost four minutes off of my Kenwood Footrace time this morning -- finished in 58:16, compared to last year's 1:02:07. Not too shabby, especially considering the heat (it was one of those drink-one-cup-pour-one-cup-over-my-head situations at the aid stations) and the hills (my downfall last year -- I started too fast and died on the second hill -- by the end, it was all I could do to keep from walking).

But enough about running. You're probably wondering why the hell I'm a sleepless zombie.

Reason 1: The cake.

beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

When I saw this video, I thought this beet cake would be nothing short of perfect for Todd's birthday party (both of us love beets so much that we actually have "Eat your beets" engraved in our wedding rings -- it's a Tom Robbins reference), which we hosted Saturday. Unfortunately, my baking experience wasn't as lovely as the one in the film. The weather on Friday was pretty much an inferno, so I had to wait until the evening to avoid adding sweat to the cake's ingredient list.

As a result, I was baking until 2 a.m. And then woke up at 6 a.m. the following morning to continue the party preparations. (The menu included two salads, marinated portobello mushrooms, veggie burgers made from scratch and watermelon cocktails. I love cooking vegetarian meals, but prepping all those vegetables takes a long-ass time.)

Reason 2: The party.

Note to self: When you make the decision to introduce vodka to what is normally a described as a "raw food smoothie high in vitamins," you have chosen a very special road.

Perhaps one that can only lead to even more drastic decisions.

Reason 3: The hotness.

OK, so maybe that's not really how I define "hot." I'm talking weather here. I spent yesterday in the city with Christina (we toured the SF Armory, hence the photo of bondage gear); you know temperatures have hit new heights when you can spend the entire day in San Francisco without a sweater.