Christmas 2012

I hope you all had a great holiday!  My birthday party on Friday was SO fun.  I'm thankful for everyone who came.  Our house got small quick with 20-25 people in it at once :) Christmas was nice.  We stayed home this year with saro's mom, sister and her husband.  I am writing this from my new iPad!  It's really fun.

I got right back on track today.  35 minutes of Pilates and a 20 minute walk in the snow with Murphy.  There is about 3 inches of snow out there.  Maybe we will have a delayed opening at work tomorrow :)

Hoping for a run this weekend.  I got a two mile run in on Sunday morning.  Better than nothing!

Saro's daughters are on their way from PA now.  They'll stay until Sunday or Tuesday so I'm sure we will do something fun with them and celebrate Christmas again!

I am looking forward to another body challenge via Bridal Boot Camp.  Although I'm still following the clean eating and her you tube work outs, I can't say I didn't cheat this weekend!  Beef, potatoes, homemade mac and cheese, cheese and crackers, desserts, wine!  Gosh I love cheese.  It's harder to stay on track during this time of year!  How do you stay motivated?

Have a good night!

Is it Friday yet?

I have been wondering this since Monday morning.  It has been a rough couple of weeks.  On a lighter note, tomorrow is my 29th Birthday and I'll be celebrating with Saro, my cousin & her husband, my sis-in-law & her husband and some of our closest friends.  Instead of going out to dinner, I invited them over for appetizers and drinks.  Here is what I'm making and I will post pictures after the party!

Brie with raspberry in fillo cups
Tomato & mozzarella bites with pesto for dipping
Various cheeses with crackers and rosemary breadsticks
Homemade hummus (Saro makes the best) with celery and carrots
Goat cheese & avocado dip - thanks to my best friend, Ang!
Fruit salsa with cinnamon sugar chips
Cohen's Hors d'oeuvres
Christmas Sangria (white wine, sparkling apple cider, mint, cranberries, apple, orange)

Needless to say, I am not really watching calories tomorrow night but will have a fruit/protein shake for breakfast and a light lunch :)

I am hoping to get a run in this weekend or maybe even Christmas morning if it's decent outside.  Next up - Bridge to 10K, Week 3, Day 1 - Three 17 minute jogs (that's an additional 6 minutes total, compared to week 2).  It doesn't seem like a lot, but it is - LOL.  However, I can remember back in March/April when running 3 minutes seemed like a lot.  It's truly amazing what your body can do and how it can adapt. 

Bridge to 10K - Week 2, Day 3

Finally!  Tonight's run was not easy though.  I resorted to the treadmill.  I decided I need to set up a fan next to me.  Running in a basement with lack of air/breeze isn't necessarily easy.  I cracked the window down there but it didn't help much.  Anyway, here are my results:

Distance: 5.00 miles
Average pace: 12:05/mi
Duration: 60 minutes
Run pace: 11:50/mi

This is slower than my last few runs BUT my last run this long was 3 weeks ago so I blame it on that and running in a warm basement.  Now that I've run in 90 degree weather and 35 degree weather, I think I prefer the cold!  However, 50-60 is ideal.

I had some leftover chicken and ratatouille for dinner.  We made another big batch 2 days ago.  So easy, healthy and filling!  Yum.

After the holidays I plan on buying some type of light weight but warm jacket to run in, and some ear warmers.

I am not unhappy about tonight's run but I know I can do better.  It felt good to get some frustration out after a rough day.  Goodnight, all!

'Tis the season

I still have not made it down to the track and I'm bummed about it.  I feel like it has been raining for days or the nights I can go, Saro is working late and as mentioned, I'd rather not go alone in the dark.  Tonight I will probably resort to the treadmill and do some Pilates after my THIRD dentist appointment for the same problem!  Grr.

So although I've been on a health kick since March, I love to bake around the holidays.  I'll sneak a few but I like to give them out as little gifts.  So far this year I made chocolate chip coconut macaroons, walnut snowball, and chocolate chip peanut butter cookies.  They came out great if I do say so myself!  Here are a few pictures.  It was my first time baking with real vanilla bean.  I'm not sure I can tell the difference between that and extract except the price, LOL.  So I think I'll stick to extract.

I like all the cute Christmas-y cookies I see recipes for but I don't really have the patience for cookie cutters and then decorating them, haha.  Last year I make red and green swirl cookies from a Pinterest recipe - super cute but difficult to make, especially with all the butter the recipe called for.  On Sunday when I baked, I put the chocolate chip cookie dough in the fridge for about 2 hours and I found this helped the cookies to not spread out on the sheet as much.  I baked them for only 9 minutes and they came out nice and soft.  I'll remember this for next time.

Flyin' week!

This week is flying - which is a good thing!  I'm super busy at work and have been busy outside of work too.  Last night we had our monthly girls night get together.  We've been doing this for a little over 2 years now.  We went to a Cuban restaurant.  Since I'm on a 4 week body challenge, I tried to keep it simple.  We all split an appetizer sampler and I got the carribean salad with skirt steak.  I REALLY wanted the shrimp with coconut lime sauce but I opted for the healthier choice.  This morning, I switched up my breakfast to a shake.  It was 1 1/2 c unsweetened almond milk, about 1/4 cup bluberries, 1/4 cup frozen raspberries and 1/2 cup frozen peaches with a heaping tbsp of vanilla protein powder.  I drank it on the way to work and it kept me full until about 10:30.  I usually have an apple or celery around then.  Today was an apple with all natural peanut butter - Smuckers.  The label should only read "peanuts" if you want the real stuff.

I'm finding it harder to get runs in, during the week especially since it's dark by 4:30!  Saro usually works 1-2 late nights per week and I don't feel safe going without him.  There are usually other people down at the track but I don't know - with my headphones on and focusing on running, you just never know.  I guess I'm paranoid.  I love the winter, snow, and cold weather but this year I'm looking forward to Spring already!

The treadmill isn't the same, although it'll do for now.

Tonight we'll be having steak and vegetables for dinner.

Ratatouille

Happy Sunday, all!  I never got around to week 2, day 3 of Bridge to 10K last week.  It was a really hectic week!  This weekend was fun.  Saro's daughters were here and it was Caitlin's 16th Birthday.  We celebrated with sushi and Red Mango for dessert :)  Today I worked and did my twice monthly trip to Shop Rite.  I usually dread going because A) I work part time in a supermarket on Sunday mornings so I've already spent some time in a store and B) The Shop Rite I go to, as most Shop Rites are, is very busy at around noon on Sundays.  I like to go and get it out of the way so Sunday afternoon/evening I can do other things like clean and cook :)  Before Saro left to take the girls back to PA, I said "I'm going to rest after I vacuum."  His reply? "I vacuumed yesterday."  Yes!  Thank you...  I thought to myself.  So I decided to work out but didn't head outside because it's cold and rainy and I felt like staying in.  Instead I did about 25 minutes of Pilates and then jogged 3.1 (5K) on the treadmill.  I finished in 35 minutes.  I even had to open the window down there because it's warm with the furnace being near the treadmill.  Overall I'm happy with the results.  I'm hoping to get down to the track one night this week with Saro.

Tonight Saro made us ratatouille (eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes).  It came out really good and we have leftovers for the week!  We try to only cook 2-3x a week so we have leftovers for 1-2 days.  It helps with our busy schedules.

Christmas is only 16 days away - it came SO fast this year.  Thankfully, I'm almost done shopping.. just a few more things to pick up.  Speaking of that, I think I will wrap some of Saro's gifts and get them under the tree before he gets home.

Have a great week!!!

Half Marathon in San Francisco?

Saro and I are thinking about training for a half marathon in June in San Francisco.  We'd make it a vacation too.  We love San Francisco and figure we have 6 months to get ready for 13.1 miles.  We are pretty close to 6 miles in about 1 hour now, so I think we can definitely do 13.1 in 3 hours (you have to finish in 3 hours or else you don't receive a medal) :)  It's called the Wipro San Francisco marathon.  They have a full marathon, two half marathons and a 5K.  Here's the link if you want to read more about it.

http://www.thesfmarathon.com/

I'm going to read more about training for a half and then we will decide for sure but as of now, it's looking promising.  I always like to have something to look forward to and this is a great, positive goal.

I don't see myself getting to the point of running a whole marathon but hey, I didn't think I'd be at this point either - wanting to run 13.1 miles.  One day at a time.  What helps me is good music.  Sometimes I want to stop and then a good song comes on which allows me to keep going even further.

Deck the halls!

Well, I did not have a chance to run this weekend but I plan on going tomorrow.  I heard it is supposed to be 68 degrees!  That is very warm for December in New Jersey.  This week I am looking forward to NO double shifts and a cookie swap with friends on Thursday night :)  This weekend we decorated our house.  Here are a few pictures.  Thanks to my Mom for giving me *some* of her ornaments and decorations.  She has a TON of great Christmas stuff.  We went to the local YMCA on Friday night to pick up a fresh tree and garland for outside.  I have to say it's probably the best real tree I've had!  Not one needle fell off while decorating.  It's very healthy and full!