1/2 Marathon and a Charity

Let's step away from food for a minute. I did something important today:

Many friends have begun running half marathons lately and there's one in particular that I've always wanted to do: The Disney 1/2 Marathon. This year I decided to go for it. Sadly, I missed the cut off date for registration. But it turns out there are a lot of charities that have teams. I looked through them and found one that spoke to me: The Lazarex Cancer Foundation's Team for Life.

In 2009 my family lost someone to cancer, my uncle Mike Nelson. Since he passed, I've been pondering ways that I can help the fight against cancer. The Lazarex Foundation, in their own words:

Mission
To provide resources for cancer patients who’ve been told they have no other options, but who are not yet done with their journey in life and refuse to give up now.

What We Do
Lazarex Cancer Foundation builds a bridge to hope, dignity and life for cancer patients and their families. We provide financial assistance to defray the costs associated with patient participation in FDA clinical trials. Additionally, we help patients navigate their clinical trial options and provide community education and outreach services.

• We help patients of all ages and walks of life, with all forms of cancer.
• We help patients take advantage of medical breakthroughs today, because they may not have a tomorrow.
• We believe that the size of a patient's checkbook should not stand between them and the choices they make or the treatments they need.
• We provide resources to fill the gap that exists between when a patient is told there is no more hope and when they are truly done with their journey in life.

I plan to run in his memory and I hope that you can help me reach my goal of $950. I'm hoping to surpass that number as I believe in what this foundation is doing. You can go here for more information about Lazarex and to make a donation. Thank you so much for helping me realize this goal

http://lazarex.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=492667&lis=0&kntae492667=C6DC6C79EB8947B086690DECBA416C98&supId=354572100&emaillogid=5559976796 

Manhattan Beach Post

For back story and awesome food photos on MB Post, you can go here, here and here. Basically my meal went something like this:

BACON CHEDDAR BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

 maple butter 

I'd heard so much talk about these biscuits that I figured they were good, but couldn't possibly be 'that' good. I was wrong. I would go back to eat these. Just these.

Brunching at The Churchill

Last fall I was invited to brunch at The Churchill. Sadly, I've been really apathetic about writing, so I'm just getting around to posting it now. The Churchill is a great space; it has an open loft vibe with great daytime natural lighting. The floors are reclaimed wood, which is always a nice eco touch. It's like industrial LA meets Williamsburg (NY hipster). All in all, I kind of love it. It's definitely on my list of places to go back to for dinner.