Rest

This morning I set my alarm for 6:30am and had every intention of running with my running group.

However, after a night full of sniffling, sneezing,and coughing, I decided to reset the alarm and get some more rest.

 

I should have known I was run down considering that I fell asleep at 9:30 pm last night with no problem. But in my mind I still thought that an 8 to 10 mile run would be feasible.

 

I wondered, should I "Push Through"?

While I hate letting myself down, I knew today needed to be a rest day. I woke up at 9am and felt so much better.

Sometimes I feel guilty about missing a planned workout. Do you?

How do you get out of the habit of feeling bad about it?

Read Full Post »

Change in Plans

A lot of things that I had planned on today ended up changing- and hey, change is good right?

Change #1

I ended up buying actual gifts instead of gift cards (as I mentioned earlier)  because I had a good time shopping and picking things out at the stores where I was going to get gift cards. I was already there, so hey, why not!

 

Change #2

I  decided to go to the gym today instead of running. I’ve got the sniffles and I think running in the cold is going to be a challenge. Plus, I think I’m doing a long run with my running group in the morning.

 

Change #3

Instead of wearing a dress to NYE, I think I’m just going to wear jeans. We’re going to a sports bar anyway and it’s just one night. Plus my one pair of designer jeans are fitting very nicely these days and they need a night out.

 

One thing that didn’t change was what I was planning to eat for lunch. A mix plate of tofu, bulgur, tabbouleh, parsnip fries, and roasted eggplant. I wolfed this down. I was starving!

 

I know I had also promised to show you guys the good stuff I got at TJMaxx yesterday, so here ya go:

My favorite items are this cross shoulder bag, a pair of Joe’s Jeans jeggings and warm shell jacket for snowboarding.

TJ Maxx left the tag on the jacket and I can see that it’s MSRP is $120. I got it for $29! I’m heading to Vail next week (where it is currently 5 degrees) so the more layers, the better!

I ended up getting the Joe’s Jeans for $39 and I looked up the style number and it turns out they go for $128 at Saks!

The bag was another great find because it was exactly what I’ve been looking for for months!  I really wanted a lightweight bag that I can wear cross shoulder. I love my current bag, but it is so heavy and becomes a burden on my shoulder if I’m out and about for too long. This had a $65 price tag, but was only $20. Never heard of the brand before.

I’m a total Maxxinista!

 

Have you worn jeggings yet?

What items are you in need of right now?

Read Full Post »

Keepin it Simple

This morning started out with a simple breakfast

Vanilla chobani with blackberries and mango

Bagel thin with cream cheese

Black coffee

 

After breakfast I got started on my to-do list. Paying bills online, updating my grocery budget, and looking online for some belated holiday gifts.

 

My Dad’s family doesn’t get together until after the holidays are over so I still need to finalize their gifts.

 

Normally, it’s nice to be able to shop when the holiday rush is over and I can usually get really good stuff on sale.

 

This year though, I’ve decided to keep it simple and go with gift cards.

I always thought that gift cards are kind of impersonal and don’t show that much creativity. But at the same time, I LOVE GETTING THEM! I’m taking time to carefully select them for each person, and I feel really good about it.

 

My plans for the rest of the day are pretty simple too.

A run

Some studying

Quick trip to the mall

 

How do you feel about gift cards? Impersonal? Or the perfect gift?

Read Full Post »

Normalcy

Ahh..the sweet sweet feeling of a normal day.

 

It was great to be back home when I woke up this morning. I got an early start and headed to the gym for Bootcamp.

 

Unfortunately, the instructor was sick so she cancelled class. Both Joe and I have colds too and I’m hoping that they stay dormant and just go away soon.

 

I ended up doing 45 min on the elliptical and some weights. Yep, I did weights on my own!

 

I did 2 sets of 12 of some full body stuff

Assisted Pullups

Incline Bench Pushups

Tricep Rope Pulls

Walking Lunges

Deadlifts

Situps

 

After the gym I did some cleaning and laundry and then headed to Trader Joe’s and TJ Maxx.

 

I hit the goldmine at TJMaxx! I’ll give you recap tomorrow when the lighting in my house is better for pictures.

 

In order to keep my budget in tact, I decided to return two things I got at H&M the other day.

 

GOING BACK!

YEP, YOU TOO!

As much as I like both things I don’t need them and I have other things that I can use instead of them.

 

Lunch was a delicious combo of things I bought at Trader Joe’s. It felt so great to get some fresh food (that I cooked) in my body.

 

Roasted eggplant, bulgur mixed with TJ’s Tabouleh, and baked tofu.

Dinner was Stuffed Chicken with Ricotta.

Now I’m about to curl up with a cup of hot cocoa and a few frozen Andes mints.

These are my new favorite treat!

 

 

 

 

Are you a routine freak like me or can you go with the flow for a long time?

Read Full Post »

Blogger Secret Santa and Winter Skincare

Last night after our 7 hour drive home, I was so happy to drive up and see a package for me sitting outside my front door! I knew it had to be my Secret Santa gift from Tina’s gift exchange!

We had been hit with a big snowstorm, so I wasn’t surprised that the package was a little beat up. I’m just glad it wasn’t destroyed.

 

Even before bringing in our bags, I went upstairs to open the gift.

It was wet and I was actually able to peel open the box!

OOOH! Goodies!

My gift was from the lovely Monique who blogs at She’s Going the Distance. Her blog is great, check it out! She has yummy recipes and cool travel talk.

Monique sent this sweet card and told me that my gift was inspired by my About me page and my trip to Italy in college. How thoughtful!

 

Here’s what she gave me:

Pretty blue dishtowels

Two One adorable baking dish (one broke! boo!)

The box has individual packets of dried oregano- cool, huh?

She also included a card organizer with yummy italian recipes!

A super cute mug

Ghirardelli Peppermint Chocolate coffee (which I drank this morning- YUM!)

Thank you again for the wonderful gifts Monique! I love it all!

 

In other news, I’m still having skin problems that I thought would be over after the summer running season. My face breakouts are still there, but I’m also getting breakouts on my back and chest. Not cool.

 

I decided to stock up on some new skincare products in hopes that they will help. I also know that I probably stay in my gym clothes too long after working out sometimes, so I need to get better about that.

 

FYI- CVS is having a buy one/get one 50% off sale on their products.

What is your winter skincare regimen?
Do you get body breakouts?

Read Full Post »

7 hours

First and foremost, we are home safe.

But I still need to mention that our typical 4.5 hour drive across the state took a whopping 7 hours.

 

Take a moment. Think about all the things you did today between 12:30 and 7:30pm. I was in the car the whole time!

All in all it wasn’t so bad, there was just some major traffic from an accident that shut down the turnpike, so we were stuck in one place for 2 hours.

 

Times like this I just say a prayer for the people involved in the accident and try and remain calm and complain as little as possible. At least I’m with my husband and we have satellite radio and lots of snacks.

 

Speaking of snacks..

 

Our first hour kicked off with some pistachio nuts. Great car food.

Subsequent snacks included an apple

Some whole grain pretzels dipped in natural honey nut PB

 

 

And a few clementines. And of course lots of coffee.

 

We just got home a little while ago and we don’t have much in the fridge. So of course, I went with an old favorite on a new placemat.

Oh peanut flour- I missed you!

 

Off to watch some TV and unwind with my legs stretched out!

Have a great night!

 

Take any long car trips lately?

Read Full Post »

On the Road again!!

We’re heading back to the Philly area in an hour or so and I’m pretty excited!

 

I feel so lucky that the weather didn’t interfere with our trip.

 

Have a great day!

Read Full Post »

Steeler Game Recap

I’m pretty sure you guys know that I’m a huge Steeler fan. Remember this post about Joe’s cousin’s house?

When we arrived in Pittsburgh, I knew that Joe would be going to the Thursday night game to watch the Steelers play Carolina.

 

His friend had an extra season ticket and offered it to him. I was happy for him, but MEGA ULTRA SUPER UBER JEALOUS.

I found out that there was a possibility of an extra ticket becoming available because the 20 degree weather means that sometimes people bail. On Thursday afternoon we got the call…I WAS IN!!

 

The game started at 8:20 on Thursday night and it was frigid! Joe and I put on layers and layers of clothes. I can’t believe my jeans even fit over all of them. You can see we both look pretty inflated.

 

As we approached the stadium I was so excited and couldn’t stop taking pictures. I had to stop though so I didn’t get lost. Everyone is pretty much wearing the same outfit, so it’s not too hard to lose people.

Right in front was the team from the NFL network broadcasting live.

They looked pretty miserable in the cold.

 

Heading up to our seats

Coin Toss

Freezing! (I put my jersey outside my puffy coat. I look like a linebacker! Love it!)

The cold was worth it, and the Steelers ended up winning 27-3!

 

Have you ever been to an NFL game?
Who is your team?

Read Full Post »

A Merry Little Recap

Well it’s Monday, isn’t it?

The holidays go so fast, it’s crazy. This morning my mother in law went out for a run in the snow. She is very fit and ran 3 miles with me with short walking breaks after each mile.

 

I went on to complete 2.5 more miles for a total of 5.5. I’m feeling great now and even got some studying done for the Praxis.

 

I didn’t take too many pictures on Christmas, but here are a few along with a little recap.

 

SO.MANY.COOKIES.

These are my favorite- almond biscotti with dried cherries and white chocolate

The tray I assembled

The tray someone else brought that was a tad fancier than mine

Lots of olives to snack on before dinner

A spread of Italian meats and cheeses

Baking rolls

All done!

On Christmas Eve we did the feast of the 7 fishes: we had linguine with seafood, calamari, baccala salad, salmon, orange salad, seafood stew, lots of italian breads.

 

On Christmas Day we had homemade ravioli, ham, rolls, meatballs,sausage, eggplant parmesan.

 

It was all delicious and the leftovers have been great!

What does your family eat on Christmas Eve and Day?

Read Full Post »

Worst Idea Ever

Hi everyone!

 

Hope you all had a nice X-mas if you celebrate, and a nice day off even if you don’t.  There is something about the quiet of Christmas day that I think anyone can enjoy, even if you aren’t observing the holiday.

 

I plan to do some recapping of our holiday, but I quickly wanted to share with you one of my worst ideas ever.

 

Last night around 11:30 pm, Joe, me, his brother and his girlfriend decided to whip out the Wii and play some games. We ended up deciding to play Wii Fit games, but first we had to create our Mii profile.

 

So as it turns out, I needed to weigh myself in front of everyone. (after x-mas dinner, in all of my clothes) It didn’t show my weight, but it did show my BMI and tell me that I was overweight.

 

But the best part was the animation that came afterwards that showed my little Mii blowing up and then sighing in disappointment when the number came up.

 

I had some major flashbacks to gym class in elementary school where we had our "fit tests" or were weighed in class. I was embarrassed.

 

I can say though- that I feel fine now, and it was easier than ever before for me to prevent a meltdown. Here’s why.

 

• I know I’m NOT overweight. I actually do have a healthy BMI, but I am on the higher side of weight for my height. So with all the other factors (clothes, holidays, etc) I shouldn’t be that surprised.
• I’m healthy! I ran a half marathon this year, I’ve exercised every day this week and it’s Christmas week!
• I love my body, no matter what this stupid game says or what anyone (including my own negative thoughts) say.
• Weight is just a number. It doesn’t define me, it doesn’t own me, and it doesn’t determine my worth as a person.

 

How are you feeling about your body today?

Read Full Post »