Run with Me Tuesday...

I didn't have much time over the weekend to run (see blog about the past weekend, it's coming, I promise) so you can imagine how I felt on Monday....however, I had something going on with my ankle and was afraid to run, so that meant 3 days, no running.  I did a quick workout that morning before work and finished it when I got home.  Here is the workout I did, I loved it, only did one round since I was a little sore but I definitely felt it this morning!

Source

I was able to head out this morning for my run and it felt great, I think the 3 days off really helped me.  I have been having a hard time to get back up to my normal miles.  Before the marathon, my norm was 30 miles a week, then I bumped it up to 35, and then to 40ish towards the end of my training.  Honestly, I think 40ish miles was too much for me at the time, which is why I am where I am at now...hardly making my 30 miles.  I think I am tired, need a new routine, more motivation, and cross training.  Training for my next marathon is coming soon so I hope that by the time I start I will feel better...

Until then, I will continue to lace up my shoes and hit the pavement!  :) Hope you all like the workouts I am posting, I literally am trying them as I go, so some may not be so fun....my apologies ;)

You are my Sunshine....

Yummmerrrs

It's 6:32 am and I am about to head out for my run.
However, I realize that I could just about eat an entire cow...yes, I am that hungry.

One of my favorite go-to's for my morning breakfast:  Oatmeal and Wheat Flour Blueberry Pancakes :)

Source

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
• 2 cups soy milk
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• *Add vanilla extract for some extra flavor

Directions

1. Preheat a lightly oiled griddle over medium heat.
2. In a large bowl, mix whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a small bowl, mix oats and soy milk. Whisk in eggs and olive oil. Pour into the flour mixture all at once. Continue mixing until smooth. Gently fold in blueberries.
4. Pour batter about 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared griddle. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, until bubbly. Flip, and continue cooking until lightly browned.

Better Late than Never, Right?

Weekend Recap...

The hubs and I decided to try a new wine tasting room in downtown.  It is called The Dregs, and is totally awesome....has an Indie kind of feel and is literally so hard to find, I felt like I was in the Fight Club and had to have a password to get in. 

Ran by a husband and wife, who both, LOVE wine, decided to start their own tasting room. They capitalized on the economy and got a pretty good deal on a tiny little office space on the second story of one of the buildings that looks super vintage and very historical. Prices were good and the wines were great....and I took some neat pictures while there.

After The Dregs, we decided to venture on down to another wine bar in town that we always love to go to.  Walked out of there only paying 10 bucks and we both had 2 glasses of wine.  Can't beat that with baseball bat!  All in all, I probably consumed more wine than I should have, but had a great little "date night" with the husband...it was very much needed.  

Run with Me Tuesday

I tried created a new workout the other day when I was pressed for time.  I had just about 30 minutes to run before work, and after felt a little deprived so I decided to add a twist to it...

Run for 30 minutes

then..

(30) crunches

(30 sec) planks

(30) crunches
(30 sec) planks

(30) crunches

(30 sec) planks

Total time: about 35 minutes....leaves your upper body shaky and surprisingly makes you feel like you got a full workout in.  Go ahead try it, and feel free to add in your own favorites.

This past weekend was really great for me (as far as runs go).  It rained on Saturday morning, which for me, was perfect for running.  I was able to get out and let the rain wash all my cares away.....wow, that sounds cheesy.  Sunday was bright and sunny, so I planned for my longer run that morning.  I ended up doing just under 9.5 miles, which if you know me, that kills me....I am slightly OCD and either need to do full miles or in half increments.  I ended up just over 9.4...which is lame.  I am getting off topic, so I wanted to try a new route that our city has for their yearly half marathon.  It is known for hills, so I was slightly hesitant to try to tackle it, but I went in head first and came out feeling like a winner.  Needless to say, I was sore all day but felt pretty dang good for doing it. 

Happy Tuesday!

Friday Favorites

Disclaimer: please excuse my blog layout, in the process of changing this bad boy up!

Friday Favs:

1. I am pretty sure Pinterest has taken over my life....but I have gotten so many ideas for outfits at work because of this thing!  If you are anything like me, {which I am pretty sure a lot of people are in the same shoes as I am} I have not been shopping for quite some time....sadly.  So I have to mix up the options on a weekly basis.  But how cute is this number? 

http://gthegentleman.tumblr.com/post/5461650341

2.  Words with Friends! This thing never gets old, let me tell you.  I'm hooked.  

3.  My 3 staple items: carmex, MAC lipglass in Ample pink, and my newest edition that I love! Bare Essentials Buxom lip gloss....amazing. 

baby.shower

Healthy Recipe Wednesday

This past Monday, we had some friends over for dinner. Me being the heath-conscious person that I am wanted to make a menu that would be full of flavor with half the calories. My husband was in charge of the meat, Tri Tip (not as healthy as the rest, but still very delicious) while I was in charge of the other menu items.


On the menu?


Roasted Potatoes

• 1 Bag of red potatoes (I grabbed the mini potato bag from the produce section)

• Wash and cut potatoes into quadrants

• Throw in a bag (you can use a gallon sized baggie or if you don’t have any in the cabinets, grab one of the plastic bags that you got from the produce section)

• Add about 1-2 Tblsp of extra virgin olive oil (this depends on how many potatoes you have) Typically I count 1..2..and I am done pouring.
• Add Rosemary-fresh is better, but if you don’t have it, grab the dried stuff
• Garlic! The more the better in my opinion.
• Kosher salt-just sprinkle enough to cover the potatoes, a little bit goes a long way.
• Pepper-same as salt


Preheat oven to 425, add all the ingredients in the bag and mix around using your hands. You can also shake the bag and massage the potatoes until it’s well mixed. Bake for 40 minutes or until tops are golden brown.




Sautéed Spinach
• 1 Bag of spinach (I didn’t have any fresh spinach because of the store I went to, however, I would recommend buying the fresh stuff)
• Minced Garlic-about 3 cloves
• Half of a lemon
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil


Heat the olive oil in a pan until it’s hot, add garlic and let the garlic brown a bit. Add spinach and sauté at medium heat. Add lemon at the end. This recipe takes about 5 minutes at most to cook, so make sure you save it for the very end. I started it up as my husband was cutting the me




Fudge Brownies with Mixed Berries
• I took the recipe from one of my favorite websites, Cooking Light (MyRecipes). Followed the recipe exactly what it said to do, however, I ended up baking the brownies longer. It all depends on your oven though, so test it with a knife….if it comes out clean, then you’re done.
• I grabbed whatever the store had on sale at the time, so it was blueberries and blackberries. I got this trick from my sister, so I can’t take full credit for it, but when the berries aren’t ripe, add a little bit of balsamic vinegar and a little honey. Mix together with the berries and let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours. Serve on top or on the side of the brownies and you got yourself a yummy dessert with half the calories!

Happy healthy meals!

Run with Me Tuesday

This post will be slightly different than what they usually will be.  You see, yesterday was a holiday (what’s up MLK Jr!) so I was holiday’n it up ….not really…if you call dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, mopping the floors Cinderella style (we really need to get a new mop) and making a semi-feast for friends, holiday’n it up, then, ok!  So I will be combining Monday’s and Tuesday’s post into one big happy one.

This weekend was actually really good…didn’t do anything huge, but I did have a happy birthday lunch with some friends at one of my favorite Mexican food restaurants.  Afterwards, we did a little bit of retail therapy at some of my favorite stores, Ulta and Nordstrom.  Sunday was grocery shopping, arts and crafts, football, and the Golden Globes.  Which by the way, ammaaazing dresses the ladies were sporting.  Some of my favorites were (photos are from The Huffington Post and The Washington Post):

Lea Michele in Marchesa

Emma Stone in Lanvin

Reese Witherspoon in Zac Posen

Jessica Alba in Gucci

I have mentioned before that we are slowly decorating our house.  Well, our hallway isn’t very long, but, I have always loved the long hallways that have pictures with oversized frames and smaller black and white photos in them….so I am going to recreate that look, only on a smaller scale and on a smaller budget.  I bought a few white matted frames from Aaron Bros, from the penny sale.  And my MIL just gave me about 8 huge frames all with white mattes in them.  Only those frames are brown wood frames (my husband will be mad that I don’t know what kind of wood but if I had to guess, I would say Oak?).  Anyways, I have started to spray paint the frames black…see picture below.  I would say, I have spent maybe $30 bucks on this project and many of the frames that I bought at AB were at least $20 bucks a piece, so if you are looking for a project to do that will re-amp your hallway, this would be a good time to do it.  The penny sale lasts through the month!

The past six weeks have been a little funky for me in regards to my runs.  I ran the CIM in the beginning of December and basically the whole entire month was post marathon recovery (Hal Higdons), which basically means, I was running maybe 10 miles a week.  Suuuppperrrr lame in my mind, because I am psycho and am programmed to run at least thirty miles a week.  But in actuality, it is very healthy for your muscles, because you burn so much during the race, not to mention the 18 weeks of training prior.  I incorporated at home floor workouts and lots of walks, which helped me feel not-so-lazy.  I realized during my marathon, that the lack of cross training really affected my race and my time.  I barely did anything else during my training (rookie mistake #1) and in result, my left hip was in a lot of pain (from an old injury that I don’t think I ever really 100% recovered from), and I didn’t reach my goal time (11 minutes off, which is a lot for a runner).  I also got sick right before Christmas, so I wasn’t able to do much of anything.  Looking back, I think this helped with my recovery, but at the time it really blew.  Now I am pretty much back to my normal routine and ran my first longer run (9 miles) this weekend, followed by a shorter 4 miler with my favorite running partner, Lucy.  It felt really good, I was so happy to be back and I ran my favorite route which overlooks the valley once you are up at the top.  It was a beautiful morning with scattered clouds, and the sun peeping through to say hello.  I also did some hill runs yesterday, which pretty much is a hell run and makes you curse life the whole time you are doing it, but afterwards, it makes you feel like you can accomplish anything….The route is 5 miles total, including 6 steep long hills…the longest hills in the beginning and slowly tapering off towards the end.  The first time I did this run I was sore for 3 days after….today, I am not so sore which makes me think I should up the routine…maybe 6 hills twice?  ;)

Friday Favorites

It's a new year which means, new things to call my fav.  Here are a few that got me excited :)

1. Pinterest- I bit the bullet and became a pinner.  i love it!  Yet another thing to add to my list of addictions, but it is actually very helpful.  I have so many ideas from anything from outfits, recipes, to decorating my home.   :)
2. The 100's workout- This thing kicks your butt!  I have changed it up a little bit, for instance, the leg lifts are lunges for me, I add in planks and push ups and sometimes run longer than 10 min....the first time I did it, I was sore for 4 days...it's no joke, but it's fun and a fast workout and is great for women who don't have a lot of time but want to get their workout in.
3. Instagram- I have had this app for a long time but never knew that it was an online community.  I honestly just loved it because it made my pictures pretty, then one day someone commented on my photo...I looked and realized I had like 10 followers and they were all posting their pictures!  SO FUN!
4. My car-she's so cute!  Love her :)

Enjoy Your Friday!

Dreams Don't Work Unless You Do

Over the last few months I have taken a step back and re-evaluated my life, goals, and opportunities.  I have been absent from the blogging world, been all over the place mentally {and emotionally} and just plain ole been overwhelmed with life and everything that comes along with it.  I think I have mentioned this a little bit a while back…ummm maybe this post?  But quite frankily, due to my absence, I am not even sure if anyone has read it {don’t worry peeps, I don’t blame you}. 

Well, I want to let you all know that all that has been put behind me.  I have moved on, cleared my head, and cried it all out.  It’s. Over. 

A new year is here, I have turned another year older {maybe became a little bit wiser…I said maybe, ok?} and all along some really cool and great things have happened.  I ran my first marathon {kicked butt too}, hosted my very first Thanksgiving….and wait for it…..Christmas as well, decorated my own home {still have a long ways to go}, finally settled in my new job, bought my very first car {I am now a proud Volvo owner, Princess Sophia is her name}, and am planning my new venture on what I want to do with the rest of my life. 

Since my absence, I have been able to really get down and examine things. Though this may not come as a surprise to most of my readers, as I have mentioned it before; one of my favorite things is event planning and creating invitations.  I have never been one to half-heartedly do something; especially when it is one of my passions.  So this case would be absolutely, no exception to the rule.  I never wanted to start something up and not follow through.  Even more importantly, I didn’t want to set something up without a clear vision.  And I think it has come to me now {Yay!}.  So with all that said, my blog will have a new look and a new theme to it.  Allow me to introduce some of my favorite things: 

• Running/working out
• Inspirations, ideas, and being creative
• Working with others and sharing my favorite things with others
•  Cooking and baking, thus, eating healthy

I have many friends that blog on a daily basis.  Some have been able to make something of it and start their own venture.  Others do it strictly as a hobby.  I read their blogs and always feel good afterwards, though, I never really knew what or why it made me happy.  I realized a few weeks ago that I get happy afterwards because A) they are doing something they love, they followed their passion and made something of it and B) I wanted to do the exact same thing but never knew how or when to do it.  I have now figured out what I want my blog to look and feel like.  I would like to make it a Lifestyle Blog; one that many can relate to, and one that will make people feel good.  Here is a glimpse behind the meaning of my blog:

Monday Weekend Recap/Inspirations: Monday’s topics will cover my weekend {obvi} but it will also cover my inspirations that I have seen throughout the week/weekend.  Anything that I think of a/o see that I want to (re)create I will post.  This will also include things that are not meant to be designed (i.e. a saying or quote that I find etc). 

Run with me Tuesday {and home work outs}: It’s no surprise that I love to run.  I will use Tuesday’s topics to go over my runs planned for the week, how I did the week prior, and new running routes that I plan to do, etc.  I will also discuss races, training tips and experiences, and anything and everything in between.  I will also include my workouts that I do at home.  I think (hope)  a lot of people are like me in a way that I crave exercise, but sometimes get bored with my routines.  I want to use this section as a sounding board for myself and for others.  This section will also act as an accountability partner, for a lack of a better term.   If I write it, I will be honest.  If I miss or workout or just don’t feel motivated, I want to share that with others…it is completely normal and I think a lot of the time we just don’t have motivation or direction.  I want to change that.

Wednesday Healthy Recipes: This section will be a fun one!  I am all about eating good hearty meals, but I try to skip the excess calories.  I constantly am looking for new recipes that are healthy and yummy at the same time. Your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe?  Well, I have one that has half the amount of sugar…I think this will be fun because I will post my favorites as well as, new recipes that I find.  And of course, will give the credit when credit is due J.

Thursday Events/Invitations: YAY! SO exciting!  I think this section is self explanatory…but because the other sections have a description, why should this one be left out?  I will post my invites that I am working on a/o ideas that I see.  I will also be posting some fun event ideas and themes. 

Friday Favorites: This will be a fun section to post my favorite things.

So with that, friends, is what I have been doing.  I can’t wait to see where this takes me.  I read a quote somewhere ok, Pinterest, saying “Dreams Don’t Work Unless You Do”….that is so true.  I hope that I can make my blog as great as some of my other blogger friends have.  I know it will take time and for that I am very excited.  These are all things that inspire me, make me happy, and give me joy and I want to be able to share that with others and encourage others to do the same.  So please bare with me as this will take time and hard work, but I promise to make it the best I can. J