running Archives - Popcorn and Pandas

Boston Love

I finally found some time to go through the tons of photos I took at Jamie and Kaitlyn’s wedding in Boston. For those that don’t remember, their wedding took place on the same day as the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bomber. It was an extremely crazy day, and I am proud of the bride and groom for taking everything in stride. Their original ceremony location was supposed to be held at a church that was in a lockdown area, so they had to move it at the last minute to the same location at the reception. I think they did a phenomenal job with the transformation, and this couple proved that the show must go on and love prevails!

Tons of love, patriotism, and Boston pride were shown at this wedding from start to finish. The groom and his men dressed in Naval attire, the sword arch ceremony, the altered speeches, and the irish jig and Bostonian song lyrics gave this wedding a special touch. It was so nice to see their family and friends rally around the bride and groom on their special day, and also rally around their city in light of such crazy times. I’m sure you can see the love here in the photos below. Enjoy!

IMG_7959_Layers_v1 — Me and the hubby (with the little one doing a good job of hiding)

What a fun night!

Stay tuned for more photos from our Boston trip to come.

This past weekend we went to Maryland for the 1st Annual John Petrovick Memorial 5K in Baltimore. You may remember I ran for John and raised over $5,000 for the Johns Hopkins Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery back in October. Well, yesterday marked the 1 year anniversary of his passing, and some good friends of mine put on this special event to honor his memory and inspire others. John was a truly inspirational person, and I am so happy this event went off without a hitch. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, and about 250 runners and walkers participated. This was definitely the best possible way we could have spent the day. “Inside all of us is HOPE.” Miss you, John.

Hope you all are having a great start to your week!

XO,

Gina

{10} Lately…

Lately I’ve been…

reading May issues of Health Magazine and Marie Claire. Got some yummy new recipes and a desire to return to Italy!

writing Thank you notes for all of the kindness my family and friends have shown toward Little Monkey so far! He is a lucky little boy!

listening To the news. I admit, I am not the best when it comes to keeping up with the news. I usually get my updates from Facebook and Twitter (I know, that’s horrible, but true). But events from the past week have kept me tuned in.

thinking That I cannot believe I am halfway through my pregnancy! 20 weeks in, and 20 weeks left until I get to meet my Baby Boy!

smelling Not much of anything. I have been sick and stuffed up all week.

watching The always entertaining Real Housewives of Orange County. Never a dull dinner party.

wishing For safe travels as we head down to Maryland this weekend.

hoping That I can pack my bags in less than 2 hours. For me this would be an accomplishment.

wearing Today is a lazy day. I blame it on being sick all week. I’m literally in yoga pants, New Balance tennis shoes, layered tank, tshirt, and sweater. On days like today, I’m so very lucky my office is low key.

loving The fact that 215 people have signed up for the John Petrovick Memorial 5K this weekend! I am so thankful to my friends who have put this event together. This is a great turnout for the very first event, and John would be so happy and proud. So excited to see you all in Baltimore!

laughing At myself trying on bathing suits with my prego belly last night in preparation for our trip to warm-weather Arizona. No really…it was quite comical.

wanting To be outside playing in this sunshine today. It’s gorgeous in NYC!

needing To flush this sickness throughly out of my system as soon as possible.

feeling Super excited for our trip to Arizona at the beginning of May. Hanging out with my pen pal in her hometown for the first time, seeing family and friends, the Grand Canyon, Sedona, warm weather, Mexican food, our two year wedding anniversary, and our “baby moon” trip…so many reasons for this excitement!

craving Everything and anything neon. As seen on Monday’s post.

clicking I took a million photos during our Boston trip last weekend of the wedding and the rest of our adventures. Once again, I’m blaming my sickness for my delay in posting these, but I promise they should be up sometime next week!

*Sidenote: I just got my Waveborn shades in the mail today, and I cannot wait to rock them oh so soon!

What have you been up to lately?

Happy Friday!

Love,

Gina

***I was inspired by Tina of Like Ordinary Life to create this post, and she was inspired by Lauren of siddathornton, who started The Sunday Currently.

2012: A Year in Review

Ringing in the New Year in Playas del Coco, Costa Rica!

Hiking in the Cloud Forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica

Valentine’s Day Surprise at the Mary Poppins Show! I dressed just like her without even knowing.

Celebrating Zack’s 31st at crazy Mehenata Bulgarian Bar

14 inch hair chop! Bye Bye. Thanks Nikki!

Sweetlife Festival at Merriweather in MD featuring Avicii…AMAZING.

Seeing Emily Blunt and Jason Segal at the premiere of 5 Year Engagement at the Tribeca Film Festival

SKYDIVING!!! Thanks to my amazing husband – he surprised me on our one year anniversary with this bucket list item.

Dad FINALLY visits us in NY. With Zack, Mom, and cousins at their pasta shop in Brooklyn

Virginia Beach trip with friends for Shirin and Shahrum’s wedding

Testudo came to Zach and Jessica’s wedding! Go Terps!

Happy Birthday to ME! Love my new camera!

Girl’s Weekend in OC for Katie’s Bachelorette – Seacrets is crazy!

Dewey Summer Send off on Labor Day Weekend

A Naval Academy Wedding for Megan and JoJo

Visionary Art Museum Wedding for MaryBeth and James

Trip to Montauk for Mike and Abby’s Big Day

Katie & Adam tie the knot at Sagamore Farms

racejohn — Running with Patrick and Melissa for my late dear friend John Petrovick. “Inside all of us is HOPE.”

racejohn2 — Thanks to Gabbi for helping to raise money for John’s cause.

Camping trip with Erin and Rai to French Creek

End of the season pic with my JV High School Girls Soccer Team

ASHS 10 Year High School Reunion – man time flies

All my girls at the 5th Annual Pollard Potluck

poodiewedding — Alex and Seamus get married to end the year!

It may seem like a lot of photos, but this is just a small snippet of what took place in 2012. There were so many more fun memories of this past year. There were also some sad moments as well. I have learned a lot this past year, and I know that I am truly thankful for the family and friends that I have. I am incredibly lucky for the support and love that I have received this past year, and I hope I was able to return the favor to all of you as well.

I wish you all a Happy New Year’s Eve. Please stay safe tonight.

Bring on 2013!

XO,

Gina

Thank You!

I just wanted to give a big thank you to all my family, friends, and supporters for your donations to Q’s Quest for the Johns Hopkins Departments of Neurology & Neurosurgery. I surpassed my goal and raised over $5,200 dollars for the cause. I couldn’t be happier, and you all have made a huge difference toward finding a cure for brain cancer. I’m sure my friend John is smiling down from heaven right now.

I also want to thank my friends who ran the Rock ‘N Roll New York 10K with me in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Due to an injury, I was nervous that I may not be able to run the race, and thought I would have to walk it. I hadn’t run in a month, and on race day, I decided to go for it. I made it through 6.2 miles without being able to train properly, and I did it with 9 minute miles (I was originally hoping for 8:30s when I was able to train), so I am extremely happy with how everything went. I have no idea how I was able to do it, but I appreciate my friends that ran with me, and I know I must have had an angel carrying me through. 🙂

Up for this week: trying to nurse my sore legs back into shape! Hope you all have a great week!

XO,

Gina

Inside All of Us is Hope

In 2 days, I will be partaking in yet another adventure. I will be running the Rock N Roll NY 10K in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Now, the fact that I am running this race is not so much the adventure. I have done plenty of races in the past. The adventure is more in the reason I am running this race. I am running for my friend John Petrovick who you see pictured above.

John was a friend of mine for 14 years. We met in high school in biology class and hung out after school on the soccer fields. John was hilariously funny and while making everyone laugh, he is also the most amazing, inspiration person that I knew. He battled through 4 years of brain cancer all while continuing to run marathons, finish law school, and remain the funny, friendly, caring person that he was.

We unfortunately lost John on April 28, 2012, but we did not lose the legacy and inspiration he left behind. John played a huge role in his doctor’s (Dr. Q) quest to cure brain cancer. He encouraged his doctor/surgeon to join him for the Baltimore Half Marathon, and they raised thousands of dollars to help Johns Hopkins departments of neurology and neurosurgery. These past few months, I have tried to continue with John’s efforts to raise money for this cause, and so far I have raised over $3,600 in his memory. My goal is to get to $5,000, so I still have a bit to go, and not much time left! I’m at 72% of my goal, and I would really appreciate your help in achieving this for John.

To donate please click here: http://www.active.com/donate/qquest/ginanotesforjohn

Also, for those of you who didn’t know John, this is how amazing he was: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=CDrEIYyyIds&NR=1

For those of you who did know John…you already know he was “superman.” Please join me in the fight against brain cancer. As John would say, “Inside all of us is HOPE.”

Thanks for your support, and I will update you after the race!

XO,

Gina