Eat, Drink, and Be Hopeful

Entries from September 2009

Sammies All Day

September 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment

I wish today was Sunday so I could call this post Sammie Sunday. But it’s not. If it were Sunday my race would be over and my nerves would be a lot more calm. Soon enough!

I had to bring dinner to work because I ended up staying late for the Port tasting. Port is a wonderful thing, and I truly do love it so I was excited for the tasting.

I had another sandwich for dinner. This time I took leftover feta and cranberry stuffed chicken and sliced it up. I had my sandwich on another Whole Grain Sandwich Thin. I topped the chicken with dates, spinach, and mushrooms.

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This combination may sound odd, but it was totally great! Really great actually. I love making cool combination with my sandwiches, and I find the Sandwich thins to be the perfect size!

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Here is the set up for the Port Tasting

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We tasted tawny ports (both 10 year and 20 year), late bottle vintage port, a 2007 vintage cask sample, and a 1992 Colheita. A colheita is when the port in not vintage port, but a tawny port harvested in the indicated year and aged in wood for a minimum of 7 years. My favorites are usually tawny ports because I love the caramel cashew flavor they usually have. We tasted the ports with dates, Stilton Cheese, crackers, and walnuts. Just perfecto if you ask me. The combination of stilton and a ruby port is just out of this world. And of course I had to try the ports with a few pieces of the cheese, dates, and crackers.

I also had some pistachios.

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I was a little snacky tonight wouldn’t you say? Well time to finish up the tasting and go home and relax. I will run 9 miles tomorrow…I will!!!

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Pumpkin Spice Latte and Port Tasting

September 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Oh what a day it has been at work.

First of all I would like to say that if this is what vegetarian is, I would be more then happy to be vegetarian. For lunch I had a tomato basil Gardenburger on a Whole Grain sandwich thin.

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I topped my sammie with spinach and mushrooms, and a little Pecorino Toscano Fresco cheese.

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This sandwich was the bomb!!! Such great flavors and I literally savored every bite!

I had some red pepper and cornichons on the side.

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Snacks included a variety of things. 1 carrot, small small bag of pretzels from the race this past weekend, and my fave packets of Almond Butter.

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I absolutely love these small packs of Peanut and Almond Butter. They are so easy to just grab and take with you.

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I also got a skim latte with 2 squirts of Pumpkin. I have to admit though-it wasn’t very good! bummer!

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We are having a special Port tasting tonight at the store. I brought my dinner so I wouldn’t be starving by the time I get home. I love me some Port!

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One Year Ago Today

September 30, 2009 · 1 Comment

Happy Hump Day! Welcome to Wednesday. I decided not to blog last night because I was in relaxation mode. It was the first night this year we used our fireplace!!! So exciting.

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I had planned this delicious dinner in my head all day. I wanted to do pork chops on the grill and roasted veggies with yucca fries. MMM doesn’t that sound good? So I got home and immediately got to work. I cut up the Brussels sprouts, turnips, and carrots. Tossed the veggies with a little olive oil and laid them out on a baking pan. Next up-yucca root! This guy wasn’t as hard to cut as the last one I had. It was also a lot smaller. I sprinkled all the veggies and yucca root with my favorite Spike Seasoning. I threw everything in the oven on 450 degrees.

I’m not a pro at baking, and I’m still trying to figure out my oven because it is a lot hotter then it is supposed to be. Things are usually finished WELL before the recipe says they are. So I just kept an eye on the veggies constantly.

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After about 15 minutes I started the pork chops on my grill pan. I seasoned both sides with Honey Bourbon Seasoned Salts. Everything was ready about the same time.

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So now you would think this dinner is going to be pretty good…right? But it really wasn’t. I baked the yucca root too long so they were hard and way too crispy. Some of the veggies were great and some were undercooked. And the pork was just BLAH! Such a bummer if you ask me.

As I was plating all the food I had to get all our condiments out. Notice some are French? I love when we get food from Chris’ family in France. French mayonnaise is the best thing that was ever created…seriously!

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And look how huge these pork chops were. Ginormous!

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I have a confession-I was so totally bad last night. I had some wine, went to bed too late, and snacked before dinner. WHY LAUREN…WHY! Well I’ll tell you why…I was hungry before dinner, I work at a wine store and am really starting to love wine with my food, and I just HAD to watch Gossip Girl last night. So there you have it. I’m only human.

Last night I had Bitch Grenache. I was saving this bottle because I loved the label, but knew how good Grenache would be with my pork chop. They were the perfect pair. This bottle isn’t only fun, but its tasty! Juicy dark fruit, not heavy at all, but not light. It isn’t terribly complex, but just fun and easy to drink with hints of black cherry, and a tiny little bit of baking spice.

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As I was eating my dinner last night I realized that I could probably be a vegetarian. Not for the beliefs or anything, but because I just don’t like meat that much. I would so much rather eat veggies and beans then meat. I realized this after I only ate about 4 pieces of pork and went back to fill my plate with more veggies instead. I ate copious amounts of these veggies last night…even if they weren’t that great!

So there you have it-my bummer of a dinner, wine, and Gossip Girl. To add on to that my foot was killing me so I soaked it in another Epsom Salt bath and got a wonderful foot massage from the boyfriend, then hit the sack.

This morning I knew I didn’t want to run 13 miles. I was actually scared, and didn’t have the patience to be out there running for 2+hours. Why do I psych myself out about it? So I pulled myself out of the sheets and decided I needed to do any sort of running I could. I didn’t leave myself much time so I didn’t really know how far I could go.

Running this morning was so different then previous mornings. This morning my foot didn’t hurt, my leg didn’t hurt, I felt seriously refreshed and free. I know that sounds weird, but I did feel free. I felt like I could run for days. It was so cool outside, yet warm enough to still be in shorts, and the air smelled fresh and very fall-like. Why oh why did I not give myself enough time. If only I were psychic. I decided to go 5 miles, and it was a wonderful semi-quick 5 miles. Hey at least I ran at all-right?!?!!?

  • Distance: 5.34miles
  • Time: 47:00(EXACTLY!)
  • Average Pace: 8:48min/mile

At first I was a little upset with myself for drinking wine last night (I did accidentally have 2+ glasses ;-) ), and for not getting up and running 13 miles, but then I thought about where I was last year at this time, and I was really proud of myself. I was eating processed food, drinking way too much wine, and not working out. I was simply not caring about my body. Now I am running almost every morning, not eating almost any processed food, and really being in tune with my body. I have so much improving to do, but I have come a really long way. And I’m proud of myself for that.

For breakfast I was in the mood for a smoothie. I decided to finally try my Amazing Grass Smoothie.

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Everyone talks about Amazing Grass on blogs, and I just had to try it. So I made mine with a Chocolate Amazing Grass powder, Chocolate Almond Milk, and 1/2 of a frozen banana.

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This was GREAT! Really creamy and rich. I love using frozen banana over ice, and almond milk over water. This was so chocolaty and smooth. Not artificial tasting at all! I am really impressed!!

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As you can see I didn’t feel like pouring my shake into a pretty glass-I drank it right out of my Zyliss Shaker and it was stupendous!

Can’t wait to try Amazing Grass in other flavors!!!!

See ya later after luncho!

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Simple Sammie

September 29, 2009 · Leave a Comment

I am kind of bumming today about my run this morning. I’m so worried about my foot, and now that shooting pain in my leg. I hope the Epsom Salt bath will be good tonight so I will be refreshed tomorrow.

Breakfast held me for a good part of the morning. I didn’t eat lunch until about 2. It was simple, yet really good. I made a turkey sammie with 2 carrots on the side. I told you I was running late this morning, so this was all I could think up.

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I took a pita and cut it in half. I topped it with some of the leftover yogurt sauce I made for the salmon the other night. Then I stuffed the pita with 1 piece of provolone cheese, 2 pieces of All Natural Turkey Breast, lettuce, and tomato. It was overstuffed. I loved the addition of the yogurt sauce. It was so much better then ordinary mustard or mayo.

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The carrots added crunch and a little sweetness.

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It has kept me surprisingly full so far. My afternoon snack will be a yogurt. I can’t wait to try the new Pumpkin Pie flavor of Stonyfield. I know I said before that I love anything and everything Pumpkin so I can not wait to try this!

The pork I’m having for dinner is pork chops WITH the bone still. So I need recipes for that kind of pork. Much appreciated!

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Back to the Grind

September 29, 2009 · 3 Comments

I had the last 3 days off of work, and now I’m back to the daily grind. Gotta love it! I had such a great time with my family this past weekend and was so sad it had to end. But I guess like they say-”All good things must come to an end”.

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On Sunday while my brother and dad were at the Raven’s Game, my mom and I walked around the Baltimore Inner Harbor. It was a beautiful day. For dinner we went to Nick’s Fish Houseand I had the broiled seafood platter. This restaurant is a hidden gem, and the seafood is really fresh, and very tasty. I normally think seafood platters are bland, but this one was really delicious. I also had a Sam Adams Oktoberfest. I really like pumpkin ales, and Oktoberfest beers, but haven’t had any yet. Can’t wait till the races are over to start enjoying these more! Sorry no pics of dinner, I was taking the day off from blogging! But I did get some good pics of the harbor.

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(You can’t tell from these pictures, but it was absolutely gorgeous that day)

I wanted to do my 13 mile run yesterday, but my right foot has been absolutely killing me lately. It hurts mostly after my runs, but yesterday it was hurting all day. It feels like every time I walk I’m pulling something in the bottom of my foot. It starts to pinch the side of my foot as well. So I decided not to run yesterday, but instead to soak my feet in an Epsom Salt bath. This morning it felt better so I set out for a easy 4 mile run.

I thought this would be easy run but after mile 2 I started to get the worst pain in my left leg. It was so bad that I had to stop a few times and stretch it. I tried to keep going and it took a few times of stopping and stretching, but eventually it went away. I ended up running a little over 4.5 miles with an average of 9:40min/mile. It wasn’t a great run, but it wasn’t horrible either.

Tomorrow I will set out to conquer 13 miles since my first 1/2 marathon is this weekend!!!!! I know what you’re thinking-”you haven’t even run 13 miles yet?” Well I had originally signed up for this first 1/2 marathon as a practice for the race NEXT weekend. It was going to be my first time running 13 miles and I was going to take it nice an easy. But as I’ve been training I thought it might be best to have run 13 miles before I run the race this weekend even if it IS practice.

I was running late this morning so breakfast was eaten in three parts, IN MY CAR mind you.

Cereal Bar-leftover from the giveaways after the race this weekend

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Nuts for some protein

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Apple for some fruit

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Not the best breakfast, but its the best I could do. I always hate going back to work after such a great weekend. I am really going to focus on my goals again this week. I really need to fuel my body with the proper food and make sure I’m getting enough sleep this week. I want to be in the best shape for these next 2 weekends.

I’m making pork for dinner-does anyone have good recipes for pork? I need some help!

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Blue Duck Tavern Surprise!

September 28, 2009 · 1 Comment

I am full of surprises this year. Remember when I surprised Chris for his birthday? Well on Saturday night was another big surprise my brother and I have been planning for months. My brother, Doug, lives in San Diego and it is hard for him to come home often. My parents celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary this past August, and Doug and I knew we wanted to do something special for them. We knew how much they love being with just the 4 of us, but since my brother lives so far away that becomes very hard. So we decided to surprise them by having my brother fly home and we would all go out to dinner. The whole night as been months of planning. We got a limo, I picked the restaurant, Doug had his flight-we were ready to go. So here is how it all went down.

On Friday night I went to pick my brother up from the airport. He was able to be at my race yesterday, which was so much fun for me.

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(I couldn’t put this pic up yesterday b/c I didn’t want my parents to see and ruin the surprise).

We hung out during the day and then got ready and drove to Annapolis where my parents live and where the limo would pick us up. We hopped in the limo and drove to the front entrance where the limo would pick up my parents. They came down expecting nothing, and when they got IN the limo -SURPRISE! They were so ecstatic-let’s just say it brought tears to their eyes.

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We headed to DC to the Blue Duck Tavern. This is a restaurant my parents have been wanting to go to for a while, and we had heard such amazing things about it. The restaurant is known for their American fare served through simple, time-honored methods such as roasting, braising, preserving, and smoking. I really had no idea what to expect. We walked in and it was gorgeous. The restaurant is in the Hyatt Hotel, and was sleek and modern but still very homey feeling. This place was heaven to me. From the decor to the service, to the spectacular food. This was a night to remember.

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The ambiance is classy and sophisticated yet homey and comfortable. Everything is seasonal so when we walked in to the restaurant there were big wooden bowls filled with pumpkins and squash. The kitchen is very open and in the middle of the restaurant so you can see where all the magic happens.

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We had a very quiet table in the corner, and started with a bottle of my moms favorite -MerSoleil. She loves the buttery creamy Chardonnays.

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The menu is created everyday, and is designed to be a little like family style.

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The chef really suggests that everyone get something different and share. This way you get to try all the wonderful dishes they have to offer. He actually won’t make more then 2 of the same dish for one table. How funny is that? All the food is fresh and organic. The chef prepares the meals to order and nothing is prepped ahead of time. If you thought all that sounded great-listen to this. The waiter knew the menu inside and out and goes over every dish with you before hand to make sure you know what you are getting. You really get personalized service! My family ordered a lot of food because everything sounded incredible.

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We all shared, and it was MORE then enough food. I’m not going to go over every single dish because they were all so extraordinary. Every single dish popped with flavor and tasted absolutely amazing. There was not one dish I didn’t like. Everything was seasoned perfectly and cooked exactly right. Absolutely OUTSTANDING! (I wish I didn’t use the flash on some of these dishes-its hard to see them)

Here were our dishes:

Rocket Salad of Arugula with Meyer Lemon Oil

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Brussel Sprouts and Veggie Tower and Crusted Parmesan

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Braised Beef Rib with Homemade Steak Sauce

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Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes

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Fingerling Potatoes Roasted in Bone Marrow (I know-sounds disgusting, but surprisingly delicious)

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Homemade Gnocchi with Fried Sage

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Pave of Eggplant, Tomato Condiment

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Warm Swiss Chard, Pine Nut, and Raisin Pie

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We enjoyed our dinner with a fabulous bottle of Australian Cabernet that we picked up from my store earlier that day. You can bring your own wine to the restaurant, and they just charge a corkage fee. The wine was Marquis Philips S2. Big and rich, nice fruit, but not jammy. Perfect with the braised beef rib.

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After dinner we were full, but knew we had to order dessert. Of course we ordered the Warm Flourless Chocolate Cake Flamed with Bourbon and Chocolate Cream, and the Warm Apple Pie. They brought out a bucket of ice cream with a candle for my parents and a small cookie gift bag for them to take home. I had my dessert with coffee.

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The desserts were to die for. I couldn’t get over how wonderful this dinner was. Every single dish was spot on!

What a spectacular dinner and a successful night. We were able to pull off this awesome surprise, and it turned out better then we could have ever planned! I will remember this night for as long as I live!!!! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!

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Happy 100th Post

September 26, 2009 · 2 Comments

What better way to celebrate your 100th post then to blog about your very first race…EVER! Wow-I think I am on cloud 9. As you know this morning I completed the Kensington 8K. I was so nervous yesterday. This was my first race since I ran cross country in high school, and I really had no idea what to expect.

Yesterday I made this awesome veggie quesadilla for lunch.

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It had a Dr. Praeger’s veggie burger, half a piece of cheese, zucchini, and mushrooms. It was killer. I swear these burgers are out of this world. For dinner I was not too hungry so I just went with some good old organic whole wheat penne. I knew I needed the carbs for the race.

I had everything laid out and ready to go. Garmin, iPod, water, clothes, running fuel, and bag to hold it all in. I was prepared.

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I even made a playlist knowing exactly what song to put where according to when I would need the most motivation.

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This morning I woke up feeling a little tired but overall pretty good. I did my leg lifts and push-ups to get my body going. I’m not one to eat before I run, but I knew I might need some fuel so I brought a banana for the trip. Chris and I headed out at 7am to the race sight.
First stop: Packet Pick up. I had to find my number.

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369-that sounded like a good number to me.

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This was exciting for me. Putting my number and d tag on. I was getting pumped.

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With my t-shirt. I know-I’m cool!

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Off to the finish line I went. I did some stretching and some deep thinking to get mentally prepared. There were WAY more people then I thought!

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(I know you can’t tell from this picture-I got there WAY early!)

Ready…Set…Go! Off we went! I tried to go strong on the first mile, but not too strong to get tired. Before I knew it I was passing the 2 mile mark. WOW-that was fast. I was keeping up my pace, but it felt faster then normal to me. I had originally planned to do between an 8-8:30 min/mile. I looked down at my garmin and I was running a 7:14min/mile. I couldn’t believe it! I think I actually made a face to myself I was so surprised. But I didn’t feel too tired so I kept it up. Passing mile 3 my right shin started to kill me. I tried hard not to think about it and kept pushing through. The music I picked on my playlist was absolutely perfect. I knew exactly what song I needed at what time. On the third mile there was HILLS! Ok, I thought to myself “Lauren, you can do this, you love hills, come on you are almost done” This is where I past a few people. I new I needed to keep running strong because I was almost finished, but I didn’t want to give it all I had and die on the last mile. I was maintaining around an 8:30 mile going up the hills. At one point I looked down at the Garmin and it said 9min/mile so I pushed it into gear. I kept my stride strong and my breathing slow. On the the last mile. I pushed myself hard, but still not as hard as I could. I was pacing behind two women I had been behind the entire race. We were nearing the end, and I could see the Finish line. I started booking it. I was passing so many people. As soon as I felt good I just start sprinting as fast as I possibly could. I passed at least 5 people including the 2 ladies I had been pacing behind the entire time. I noticed the clock said 39:38, and I realized I needed to kick it into high gear to make it under 40 min. I literally threw myself into my run and booked the last .2miles. I had never felt myself run that fast before. I was so proud of myself! I finished the race in 39 minutes and 27 seconds. I was so thrilled. I had set a goal for myself of 45 minutes, and I had KILLED it!

I was so happy to just be finished that I completely forgot to stop my Garmin! DARN IT! But my average pace was a 7:54min/mile. I was very happy about that.

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(I’m in the back-check out the face!)
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I was so so happy with myself. I grabbed some of the goodies they had put out, but I was ready to head home.

I found out later my results from the race. I came in 121 out of 539. I had no idea there was actually 539 runners. That was way more then I thought.

  • Distance: 5 miles (8K)
  • Gun Time: 39:43.9
  • Chip Time: 39:27.6
  • Average Pace: 7.54/mile
  • Place: 121/539
  • Place Women’s Divison Age 20-29: 4/54

Chris and I stopped by my favorite coffee place on the way home so I could congratulate myself with my FIRST pumpkin latte of the season.
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Pumpkin Chai Latte with skim to be exact. We went home, and I just HAD to put it in my new pumpkin mug.

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I drank my wonderful latte with this waffle breakfast. So yum! Today is a typical fall day. Cool, crisp, and cloudy. It has been the perfect fall morning to a perfect fall day!

I have a big surprise brewing for my parents tonight. I can’t wait to tell you all about where I am sending them!!!
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Now this feels like Fall

September 25, 2009 · 1 Comment

It hasn’t really felt like fall much lately until today! It’s been hot and humid and really sunny, but today is cool and rainy! ick!

As much as I love waking up and working out, there are days when I just love to do nothing. I’m feeling kind of lazy today so I am going to make this a quick post. Yesterday after lunch I had 2 carrots and some Justin’s Organic honey peanut butter. I found these little packets at the store, and I love them! They are great to just grab and go. I only had half the packet of PB.

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When I got home I had half this Kashi pizza. It is so good, but really not that filling. However this may be my new favorite pizza. I really enjoy frozen pizza, and this one is loaded with veggies, has a very thin crust, and just an overall great flavor. I had every intention of adding more veggies to it, but when I got home at 8pm I just wanted to eat.

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I had to make another mini pizza using a whole wheat tortilla, some pasta sauce, and 1 piece of cheese. I also topped that one with mushrooms. It was actually so good that I may have to make pizza’s like this more often. Sorry no pics.

I also had such a crazy day at work (I broke a bottle of wine right before I was leaving and I was closing the store all by myself). ughh. So I needed a glass of vino when I came home. But I made sure to only have 2 glasses.

This morning I decided to take the day off of working out because the weather is so icky. Also I have my 8K tommorow morning, and I want to make sure I’m not sore and ready to go. Instead I just cleaned my apt, did my morning exercises and made this awesome breakfast.

Two multi-grain waffles topped with TJ’s Natural Peanut Butter and some berries.

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I took blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries, and put them in the microwave for about 1 min and 20 sec. They got all gooey and liquidy-almost like a syrup.

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This breakfast was awesome!

Everyday I try to do my morning exercises of leg lifts and kneeling push-ups. I really hate push-ups, but I know how great they are for your arms. Yesterday I was poking around on the blogs and I came across Sarah’s blog. She did a post on demonstrating all these great ways to do push-ups, and I mean-look at her arms! KILLER toned arms. I am willing to try some of these push-ups variations to tone my arms. I think my arms are one of my biggest challenges. I would love to have killer toned arms.

The nerves are starting to kick in for my race tomorrow. I know it’s not a big race or an very important race, but its my first race. I want to do well, but I know that I will just do my best and that will be fine.

What do you like to top your waffles with?

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Late Lunching

September 24, 2009 · 3 Comments

I love it when my breakfast holds me for a while. And today it sure did that! I wasn’t even hungry until about 2:30pm. I had something special in mind for lunch today.

I wanted to get some quality veggies in and have my leftover salmon. What better to do then a Salmon Salad! It’s simple, it’s healthy, and it actually tastes pretty great. I’m all about easy and yummy.

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Here is what I included in my salad:

I topped this colorful beauty with some of the salmon from last nights dinner. I didn’t really think I needed any dressing because the salmon had that great yogurt sauce on it so I just drizzled about 1 tsp of balsamic on the veggies.

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I really enjoyed this salad. My favorite part was the salmon. I just cant get over how perfect it came out.

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Because I had such a big breakfast I wanted to do a lighter lunch, and this was PERFECT!

Something I just realized today was that since I started my the blog I have completely given up Diet Soda. I can’t believe it since I was an avid drinker, and had at least 1 if not 2 diet soda a day. I’ve been drinking loads of regular water on a daily basis, but I just love my lunches and dinners with a little sparkling water. Something about the carbonation. Surprisingly I haven’t even wanted a diet soda since I stopped drinking them. Now that I have Perrier and La Croix water I have been fine! I drink my water out of a metal water bottle.

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What do you drink your water out of?

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Wonderful Sart to a Wonderful Day

September 24, 2009 · 2 Comments

So last night I said I was going to watch Gossip Girl, but then I remembered how motivating Biggest Loser is so I decided to watch that instead. I have all these taped on my DVR because I always miss them when they are actually on. I needed the motivation from Biggest Loser for my 12 mile run this morning. I really enjoyed this weeks episode because they went over calories and nutrition as well as working out. It made me realize that I don’t have to be eating AS MANY calories as I am because I’m not burning enough off. I know I had mentioned this before in my posts, but it really hit me hard last night. If these people are working out like they are and only taking in 1200 calories then I can do that too. It’s the only way I will really lose those extra pounds I have gained.

This morning I didn’t wake up as fast as I have on the other days I had long runs. I set my alarm for 6am but didn’t get up until 6:30. Many times I almost thought about not running at all and putting it off. But then I talked myself out of that and realized the faster I got up the faster I would be done.

I set out to run 12 miles, and I completed 12.1. But this morning was different. This morning was HOT, HUMID, SLOW, and DREADFUL. Sometimes I looked down at my garmin and noticed I was running a 11:15 mile. AHHH. I was so thirsty. I had brought my water, but was finished it half way through my run. I started dreaming about every cold drink possible, but mainly iced coffee. Don’t ask my why, but all I could think about was iced coffee.

I could not wait to be finished. I was struggling on this run, but I’m just happy I completed it. Here are today’s stats:

  • Distance: 12.1 miles
  • Time: 1:56:52
  • Average Pace: 9:44min/mile
  • Fastest Mile: 9:17min/mile
  • Slowest Mile: 10:07 min/mile

As soon as I got home I chugged 3 big glasses of water and had a Luna Recovery Smoothie. I made it with water and 3/4 of a frozen banana. This smoothie tasted so much better than the last time I made it. I don’t know if it was because I added more banana or if I was just really thirsty, but it was a lot less artificial tasting. I enjoyed it very much.

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Now I’m watching Gossip Girl while enjoying this hearty breakfast. Two multi-grain waffles with 2 Tbs Natural PB with toasted flax seeds, and a nectarine. I just nuked the nectarine in the microwave before adding it to the waffles.

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I forgot how much I loved this breakfast. Alright-off to work I go. Have a great day!

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