Ari's Menu

Little changes making a big difference.


Boston Day 1: Rockport

· by ·

Hello, from Rockport, MA! In the day I’ve been here, I’ve totally fallen in love with this super cute beach town. My friends Lisa and David moved here last May after David got a fab job at Rockport Music. Yesterday, we spent the morning and early afternoon exploring the downtown area.

Jason and Nacho

We went into a cute kitcheny store and found a bacon chocolate bar.

Lisa practiced her thug face.

I really have no idea why, but this time Steve told us to keep our tongues in our mouth, so of course we did the opposite.

Lisa and David

My fav picture of the trip so far 😉

Jason was cold and needed a hat. I tried to convince him that he needed to buy the Oscar the Grouch one, but unfortunately we were not in agreement.

 

Steve got some really great pictures of the town and the scenery.

Then David gave us a tour of Rockport music. They have the most gorgeous concert hall with a huge window in the back overlooking the water.

Above the concert hall, there is a big area where they often to wedding receptions.

Nacho suggested we all do "Porn lips" whatever that means...

II really really loved Rockport and would especially love to come back in the summer months when everything is open and it’s not 20 degrees out :O) We spent the rest of our evening in Boston, but that is a post for a later time. Now we’re off to Salem to find some witches!

Leavin’ on a Jet Plane

· by ·

Its here, its here!!!! My vacation is finally here! I have a confession. When I bought this plane ticket I knew this wpuld be towards the end of my half marathon training so I scheduled the flight specifically to be able to get a long run in this morning before I left because by the time I get back it will be less than 2 weeks until the race! So Kara and I got our run on at 7am.

image

I don’t know what it is, but my last 2 long runs I have felt so sluggish. Every time I think I’m going fast, I look down and see like 10:30 on my garmin. Blecchhh. Maybe my body is just ready for a little bit of a break.

After the run, I packed at lightening speed, got coffee and got to the airport. Steve and I are just waiting for our flight to board!!!

image

I figured this was a good time to try out blogging from my phone. Not my fav, but definitely convenient for traveling.

Alright, I’m off to Boston! Yay!!!!!

Steak, Potatoes and Beer, Oh My

· by ·

I am a person who loves to be busy. Some may say I’m a workaholic, but I am MORE than happy to keep busy by celebrating and spending time with family and friends. Is there a job where they pay you to do that? I think what I do is actually probably as close as you get. Lucky me 🙂

Let’s catch up, shall we? 2 days before Christmas started out with the 2nd to last long run Kara and I will do before PF Chang’s. We planned for 10, but Kara has been sick for like 2 months straight and after 8 she just wasn’t feeling it, so we ended up walking the last 2 miles home. At this point, we’re ready and the ending walk where we were just able to chat felt really nice actually. We ended up covering just under 10 miles total in about 2 hours. Still not too shabby.

The past few weeks after my long run, I’ve had the craziest cravings for steak. I don’t really eat red meat, but the evening after a run, all I want to eat is a big, juicy fillet! Well, Friday night I finally got what I had been craving! Kara, Charlie and Hermano met us at our house before heading out to Whole Foods to pick out our meat and our drinks. I love the type of dinner party where everyone picks their own meat, Steve grills it all up and I make the side dish. So simple, and much cheaper than trying to buy steak for everyone (ummm Steve’s steak was $30).

Hermano and I each picked out a fillet, although his was 13 oz and mine was 6 haha. Steve and Kara both picked out massive rib eyes. Charlie picked out some chicken, and Hermano also picked up a pound of macaroni and cheese because he was skeptical about the side dish I had planned.

Kara and I also picked out some cherry stout and cappuccino stout. Delicious.

As soon as we were home and we had popped open our beers, Steve fired up the grill and I got to work on the taters.

Hard at work. Obviously. I actually think I was trying to put my hair up, maybe?

Soon enough, dinner was served!

That, my friends, is what a 1.3lb piece of meat looks like.

Hermano's pound of steak and pound of macaroni.

After trying my Maple Bacon Sweet Potatoes (don’t you worry, recipe is coming soon), Hermano regretted his decision not to get some himself, so 2 lbs of food later, he went back to get some.

Yes, that is the pan I cooked them in. Apparently I need to hit my growth spurt so I can polish off pounds of food at a time and still be thin.

Then, 2 beers later (apparently I’m a light weight because that was seriously all I could handle), we were watching The Muppets Christmas Carol and I decided to make dessert. Very tipsy, recipe-less dessert. I didn’t measure a single thing and I thought it was going to be a disaster, but the entire 8×8 pan was gone in about 10 minutes flat. No pictures. No recipe. Sad day. I do remember it included mashed banana, caramel and white chocolate chips. Maybe one day I’ll try to recreate it 🙂

 

GoDaddy Holiday Party

· by ·

The GoDaddy holiday party is pretty famous. Bob Parsons rents out the entire Chase Field and thousands of people attend. This was our 3rd year attending and it was probably my favorite yet! Although last year, I got to meet Jillian Michaels, so last year probably still wins 🙂

BFFs, right Jillian? Please don't get a restraining order, I just think you're really amazing!

This year the theme was United States and there were little areas designated to famous US cities including Las Vegas, New York, Hollywood and New Orleans. Since we arrived late after opening night of Fiddler and I missed the moment where I could wait at the stairs to the stage for Jillian to come off and profess my love to her, this was definitely my favorite moment of the night

See the name in the star? No? Well 3 guesses 🙂

I also enjoyed playing poker in “Vegas” and living it up on the red carpet in “Hollywood”.

We spent our short amount of time at the party with our friends Josh and Ashley.

My husband sure knows how to look smart in pictures.

And I figured this was as close to an Oscar as I’ll ever get, so I hung on for dear life!

Is it narcissistic if winning an award is on my life time bucket list? I'm an actor, I feel like narcissism is somewhat implied.

We had to peace out pretty early because I had a race the next morning (recap coming soon!), but it was super fun and I look forward to this party every year! The only work parties I have are filled with a bunch of kids singing and dancing. Poor Steve takes me to a party where the company owner pulls names out of a hat to give $10,000 to and I drag him to youth theatre cast parties. 😉

It’s the Most Wonderful Time

· by ·

I’d been asking Steve if we could start decorating for the holidays since my epic day off on November 11th. He had been a big jerk kindly told me that we were not going to be “those people” and we had to wait until after Thanksgiving. Well you better believe the first thing we did Friday morning was get out the tree!

This is our Chrismukah tree. I tried to suggest we put it out sooner and call it a Thanksgiving tree, but I was vetoed.

Whoever decided trees were only for Christmas was a big dope. Didn't they know that Hanukkah is the festival of lights?! Look at those lights being festive!

Did you catch out menorah ornament? Mom? Dad??

Last year we bought some basic colorful (of course) ornaments and then a few personalized ones that we plan to add to each year. I pick one out every year that represents Steve and he gets to pick one that represents me. I bough the penguin one to represent *us* and Lisa got us the engagement one for Christmas. I think that one’s my favorite. Either that or my Lion King ornament that Bethy got me when we lived together. It was my very first ornament and our roomie Christmas was one of the best ever!

Of course we couldn't resist getting Winston and Clementine ornaments. Too bad they don't really look like them at all haha. Note the hippo--it represents my favorite Christmas song ever. "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas! Only a hippopotamus will doooo!"

We also put up some decorations around the house. Most of them are from Hobby Lobby and Target, two of my favorite stores on Earth!

Look, family, a menorah! And Steve's swear jar. He has a profanity problem. Who else thinks the proceeds should go to me?

It wasn’t until Sunday that we finally got to the outside decorations including one extra special decoration! Steve did most of the work while I played assistant and photographer. Winston was scared and hid inside and Clementine played spectator.

Just to warn you, I took a lot of pictures. It’s my first time getting to document the experience! 🙂

I.love.lights.

"Look at me! I'm cute and I hang the lights!" Somehow I feel like my interpretation of Steve thoughts must be wildly inaccurate. "Noooo, look at me! I'm cutER and I sniff things." That one seems about right 😉

"What is this fancy contraption? Can I eat it?"

"What about these? I can eat these, right???"

"Fine, I will just sit here starving to death because you never let me eat anything." In my head, Clementine is really good at the Jewish guilt.

I always feel like there is no right place for our wreath since we can't put it on the door. Does this look odd to anyone else?

Finally, it was time for the main event! You remember this guy don’t you??

THE FLAMINGO!!!!!

Putting him together was…well…interesting.

"I don't need to read the instructions!" Ugh. Men.

Clementine was very confused by the flamingo.

"You don't look like a dog."

"You don't smell like a dog."

"Lower, dad, I can't see!!"

"You don't play with me like a dog,"

"What are you????"

The best decoration ever, Clementine. That is what I am.

"See, I stand on one foot."

"What were we talking about again? SQUIRREL!"

We still have some more lights and decorating to do, but we’re off to a great start and I am pretty much puking up holiday spirit. Did I mention that I love this time of year?

What are your holiday/decorating traditions?

Thanksgiving 2011

· by ·

Hello friends! I hope your Thanksgiving was as fabulous as mine! I started the day off with my first double digit run ever. After that, I was pretty emotional all day long. In the morning Clementine helped me while I stretched out my tired legs.

“Good job, mom. I’ll sit here and keep watch while you stretch.”

Legs hurt less with a Clementine. It’s a proven fact.

Pretty soon, I was back to work on snacks, sides and setting up. For the snack food, I made Skinny Mini Corndogs (recipe to come–they are a hit every time!) and Baked Sweet Potato Chips with a Yogurt Dipping Sauce. Lisa made her famous Deviled Eggs and Judy brought chips with homemade salsa. So much yum.

Ok, they look kinda funny pre-cooked, but just trust me.

I put Charlie to work on sweet potato flipping. Careful about coming to dinner at my house, I will put you to work!

Steve asked me at 7am when I returned from my run if I wanted to open the champagne which I thought I would, but even I can’t handle it that early so we waited until after noon 😉

“Friends! I ran 10 miles and cooked a lot of food, so please drink with me!”

“Oh, you still wanted some too? I was just going to switch off between my glass and the bottle…”

You know you like my Thanksgiving outfit.

Before it was time to make the last couple of things for dinner, I was able to spend some time actually hanging out with friends, family and the puppies. Imagine that! I hosted and got to be social! Success.

Charlie and Kara always take the best pictures together!

I seriously cannot imagine my life without this little guy. He is the most loving dog on earth!

Seriously, look at how he hugs me!

I got legitimately upset with Steve for only taking pictures of Clementine. In true Steve fashion, he took about a million pictures of Winston afterwards.

Most beautiful photo of my mom ever.

Mathew and Lisa

Deann and my mom

Carolyn was visiting from Tucson for the weekend, and I am so glad she was able to make it as well! She even brought me a hostess present, and I didn’t even tell her for the entire month before that she was supposed to. I mean, not that I would have done that to anyone. 😉

Fig butter and honey apple butter!!! We all know how I feel about anything with the word butter in it. Yummmm. She also got me a Starbucks gift card! This girl knows the way to my heart!!

If you’re looking for a blog with some kick butt work outs that can make you feel like your work out is lame no matter how hard you think you’ve worked, you should check hers out. She has made so much progress and looks absolutely amazing!

Because Carolyn was hanging with Kara and Charlie, I think she was asked about 5 times whether she also worked for Starbucks haha.

My dad, Janie, Grandma, and Hank

Finally, it was time to finish up the cooking and carve the turkey!

Wild mushrooms, fresh rosemary, bay leaves, olive oil, chopped garlic, s&p. Baked @ 375 for 20-30 min.

I had almost forgotten that last year we painted our own turkey platter at As You Wish. I absolutely love this.

Steve’s turkey came out absolutely perfect. 2nd time was a charm 😉

Eventually we all sat down to say what we were thankful for. My favorite part of Thanksgiving.

After dinner, Hermano finally arrived (Soooo happy!!! I missed him all day!) andSteve gathered all the family into the living room for a photo.

Love.

And then afterwards, I insisted on a friends picture, and while I am not a fan of the photo in general, I love my friends, so i posted it anyway.

Then, it was time for dessert. I cannot wait to post all of these recipes because they came out amazing! There was Super Simple Pumpkin Brownies, Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars, and ice cream (buttermilk, white chocolate and vanilla bean). And, yes, every single thing I made was at least healthy-ish. I mean, I didn’t go nutty about it, but I made everything the way I wanted to make it.

No one had any complaints 😉

 

“Is it bed time yet?”

The whole day was pretty perfect from start to finish. I love my family. I love my friends. I love my Winston and Clementine.

 


The Cooking Begins

· by ·

The plan for today?

  • Grocery shop ✓
  • Cornbread for stuffing balls ✓
  • Ice cream prep ✓

Success. Still need one more thing from the store, but otherwise I am right on track! You know what else I did today?? I almost couldn’t believe it. I actually got my butt to the gym and STRENGTH TRAINED!!!! I know, that shouldn’t be such a big deal, but it is something I’ve been so bad about since I started training for PF Chang’s. Also, whenever I do strength train, I always want to post what I did, but I don’t know the names for half of it. So let’s just say I did abs, biceps, triceps, shoulders and lats. Hooray! I haven’t been so sweaty in a weights work out in a while. Unfortunately, I don’t feel quite as strong as I did when I was really focused on that leading up to the wedding, but it will come back. I just have to stay focused on the big picture.

After coming home from the gym, I immediately got to work! What makes hosting Thanksgiving about 100x more fun? Having most of your work done in advance! If all goes according to plan, my actual cooking on Thursday should be minimal and my drinking company enjoying should be maximized! Before I go into the prep work, let me just say that as much as I love the dinner and hosting part of Thanksgiving, I have something planned that morning that I am even more excited for. You’ll have to stay tuned for what it is, but I will say that I plan to be more thankful than ever! 🙂

Okay, back to tonight.

Vanilla bean scraping. It's serious business.

Can we just talk about how one vanilla bean costs about $9 at Whole Foods and only $4 at Sprouts? I freaking love Sprouts.

"What next ice cream??? Give me the answers to all life's questions!"

Look at all this stuff we have lined up to cook with! And that's not even the half of it!

Cornbread crumbs. Not only baked, but crumbed. Is crumbed a word? I decide it so.

I ♥ my kitchen

"Mom, when do we get to eat the food? Can it be Thanksgiving for us too?"

Egg yolks and sugar. Spoon, please.

What should I put in this cute little leaf? I feel like it needs to hold something amazing.

The fun will continue all day long tomorrow, and then, you know, the actual holiday. Can.not.wait. Happy early Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all are as happy and excited as I am!

 

Celebrating at Windsor

· by ·

Remember how I said we had some exciting family news??? Wellllll….

STEVE GOT A BIG PROMOTION AT WORK!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!

I wasn’t allowed to let the cat out of the bag before some more things were finalized, but he is super happy and excited to begin his new position as a linux engineer (whatever the f that means) December 15th! Tonight, I invited his mom, sister, grandma and grandpa as well as my mom and Hank out to dinner to celebrate! I’d been wanting to try Windsor for a while now and the food looked perfect for what Steve likes. Windsor has unique, elevated bar type food. Steve actually didn’t take any food pictures–he was too busy celebrating 😉 But we all really liked our food and the atmosphere!

Steve has worked so hard and I am so proud of him and happy that he is finally getting some long deserved recognition!

Is it PDA to post a kissing picture on my blog? I kind of hate PDA.

Steve’s grandparents are in town for the whole week for Thanksgiving, so it was nice that they were able to join us.

Isn't my mom cute? I love her :O)

After a really stressful and challenging week, I jumped at the sight of beer and enjoyed a delicious draft Black Butte Porter. Yummmm.

I love dark beer. Dear waistline: Get on board, please.

I really enjoyed Windsor, but I have to say after trying Beckett’s Table on Friday, it was definitely hard to live up to and I would choose Beckett’s Table any day of the week. I think Steve enjoyed himself though, and luckily I was in much better spirits tonight.

It’s hard to really explain what’s been going on without giving too much detail, but essentially I am learning lessons–I am learning that my job(s) include aspects I never expected and that I don’t like, but they are worth it for the end result (regardless of how many career tests I took at midnight last night in hopes that a new path would spark). The truth is, no matter what career path I choose, people are gonna be a holes and yell at me and make me feel like crap. Maybe it’s not as hard when it’s not something you care about? But maybe not. Might as well at least get yelled at and belittled doing something I love, and maybe one day I will grow a thicker skin and it won’t bug me so much. That’s the goal. Until then, I have some really great mentors that keep me sane and build me up when I feel like I’ve been broken down. I’m so grateful for them.

Alright friends, I haven’t really slept since like Wednesday night so I am thinking I might go to sleep in about 5 minutes. It’s 9pm. Apparently I’m 103 years old. Goodnight 😉

Ari’s Epic Day Off

· by ·

Ok, listen, a day off might not sound super epic to you, but after almost 2 months straight of working every single day, I had been dreaming of this day and planning this day for weeks! When I got sick on Monday, I started to fear for the worst, and imagined myself spending my one day laying at home with a blanket on the couch. That may actually sound like a nice day to some of you (minus the sick part) but I am not a girl who likes to lay on the couch! Luckily, by the time I left rehearsal Thursday evening, I could see that things were looking up!

My day started the way every day off should, with pancakes!

Whole wheat oatmeal blueberry pancakes. With a side of yum.

 

Actually, it started even before that. My alarm went off at 6:15–yes I am crazy, I accept this and I headed out for my first run since MONDAY. Oy! My original plan for the week had my long run on Thursday so that Friday would be completely off from everything, but Kara got injured and I got sick and no long run happened. In fact 2 days of no exercise other than physical therapy and a few step touches happened, and I was not feeling like letting an other one go by. So I got up early to get it done and out of the way so I could get on with my day.

Not too shabby, right?

 

Hooray!! I ran! Check me out!! Oh, and no double chins please! Ohhhh and about those holes in my arm pits...I'm a starving artists.

"Okay, now take a shot of me in action!" So realistic. I used Stanislovsky technique to portray the character of "Ari running" College education=money well spent.

So theeennnn, the pancakes finally came. I asked Steve “Should we make breakfast here or go out?” He replied “So I know today is all about you, but it’s also about me in that I don’t want to clean anything.” That meant we were going out, because in this house the cook doesn’t do dishes! Well, more like in this house I don’t do dishes. Anyway, we went out to The Good Egg for some pancakes!

Steve got pancakes too!

Obviously, coffee was the next stop

Grande bold coffee, 1 pump sf mocha, 2 pumps sf vanilla, 1 pump sf peppermint, steamed soy. Just order it, who cares what looks of judgement you receive?

I really really need a new mani. Or at least to remove the remaining orange polish from my fingers…

After coffee we were on a holiday shopping mission! Gifts for other people, decorations for us! We spent the day at some of my very favorite stores. First up was Hobby Lobby. Other than the time I thought I was going to die in the Hobby Lobby which is a story for an other day (short version is overreaction to undercover cop leads to people screaming that someone has a gun at the front of the store and Kara and I being escorted through the back–yikes!), it is always one of my favorite places to be. If there is one near you and you haven’t been, go immediately. Like, right now.

Usually about half the store is on sale for 50% off. I think everything we bought was actually half off and look at that cart full of stuff! They have tons of knick knacky type things (PS: How does one spell knick knack? nick nack? I have no idea.)

Steve: "Act like you're gonna eat it!"

As well as crafty type things and lots of home decor. The entire time we were there I just kept saying to Steve over and over “This is the best day!!” I mean I could go to Hobby Lobby any morning before work on my own, but it’s just not the same as having a day with no schedules where you can do fun things with your favorite person on Earth!

Next on the list of favorite places (in case you didn’t anticipate this one)

Because it is so much better than Walmart, and K-Mart---let's not even go there about that one!

They have some super cute holiday puppy outfits right now, including PET PAJAMAS!!!!

"Why do I have to be in the picture? It's about the pajamas!" "Because I said so!" "FINE!"

Can’t you just picture Clementine in those little PJs!

"I'm cute on my own. I don't need pajamas."

I know I’ve said it about a zillion times, but I just really want this flamingo!

"If I'm going to take this picture, you have to pet the flamingo"

"WAAIIITT!!! I want to pose like it too!"

They also have a ton of other shiny decorations I want to put up outside the house.

Presents!!! My favorite!!!

And doesn't this little guy just put you in the holiday spirit?!

And then I saw the one thing I could not live without. I did not get to buy my beloved flamingo, but I simply could not leave the store without purchasing this.

"Buy me Ari!!! I am a kitchenaid mixer ornament and I just happen to be the exact same color as your own kitchenaid mixer. You cannot leave this store without me. I belong on your tree!!"

Heather, can you believe it?!?!?!!

After spending way too much money at Target and Hobby Lobby, we headed up to the Biltmore to meet Lisa and Ashleigh for lunch at Paradise Bakery. Let me just say that ever since Paradise Bakery got bought out and changed their menu, it is not nearly as good. I still love the tomato soup, but the sandwiches are not my fav anymore. They got rid of the delicious veggie one with the roasted red peppers and havarti cheese. Boo. But the soup and the cookies are still delicious.

Look, the guy drew a cute little smiley face in Steve’s soup with the sour cream garnish!

"I am a happy soup"

I ate mine with half a grilled cheese sandwich, but the soup was definitely the best part! That and the two bites I took of my m&m cookie. Yes, I took 2 bites and threw it away. I REALLY wanted those 2 bites. I did not, however, want an entire 4oo calorie cookie.

After lunch, we shopped around a little more, I got some necessary things done at the Apple store (bought a warranty for my mac book and got my broken ipod replaced). Then I went into Lulelemon and drooled over work out clothes I can’t afford. Steve found this on the outside of the store, which is so me it’s not even funny

Thank you Lululemon for reading my mind. After we finished shopping at the Biltmore, we said goodbye to Lisa and Ashleigh and headed back to our side of town to meet my mom, Hank and Charlie for coffee.

Not only is coffee more delicious in a mug, but did you know you get a 10 cent discount?

I always worry about making fun of my Jewishness on the blog for fear of offending someone, but I do think it’s funny that

1) I’m Jewish and care about getting a 10 cent discount.

2) This post has been almost entirely about Christmas.

After coffee we picked up dinner and beer. Yes, every single meal I ate yesterday came from a restaurant, and I am okay with that. Beer from Whole Foods (so many of my favorite places in one day!) and dinner from Chipotle.

It looks almost homemade if you put it in a real bowl!

When I get take out from Chipotle, I always wait and use my own fat free sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and lower fat/calorie cheese at home. That way I still get them, but not the full fat versions that I don’t want! I got a bowl with a little brown rice, a little pinto beans, fajita veggies, steak (same nutritionally as their chicken. I looked it up), lettuce, pico and medium salsa. Topped at home with fat free sour cream and goat cheddar. Yummmmm.

Then we watched caught up on some of our fav tv shows and brought out the beer!

"I have 2 beers! One in each hand!" 🙂

We did the mix and match at whole foods. I ended up only trying a few sips of the ones we opened because I didn’t want to mess up my getting better with too much alcohol.

After we finished eating, I decided I needed a lounging on the couch after my epic day off outfit.

"Mom, you embarrass me with all your 80s clothes. I wasn't even born when those were popular."

 

"Mom, you're so weird."

I almost wore my onesie, but leg warmers won.

Honestly, I just had the most amazing day, and although I wish I could have like 5 more days off, I feel slightly rejuvenated and just really happy that I got to spend some quality time with Steve and that I have such an amazing husband who will go along with whatever I want to do to make me feel special and ensure that my day off is absolutely perfect!

Have a great weekend everyone–hope you all enjoy your time off this weekend as much as I enjoyed yesterday! 😀

Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?

· by ·

I have been geeking out over the fact that we would be running a movie title for weeks now. I still haven’t watched the movie, but  I have a new found desire to drop everything and curl up on the couch with the puppies and watch it with popcorn in hand. I even thought about creating an exclusively Eminem play list for the occasion. What can I say? I like themese 😉 But a home girl got busy and that never happened. I will give you this, my very fav Eminem song. I love love love it.

Now the part you’ve all been waiting for. Or the part that I’ve been excited to share!

Confession: At about mile 7, we did pause Garmi and go into McD’s for a glass of water. We also seemed to hit every single stop light on the last mile which I always pause Garmi for because it doesn’t seem fair to have my time ticking away while I can’t run! But I think those extra pauses made it a little lot easier to pick up the pace. Still, I feel Fing ecstatic about that time. I almost used the real word, I feel so excited, but keepin it PG for the kiddos up in here. Except I posted Eminem which is full of expletives. Whatev. I ran 8 freaking miles with an average pace of 9:54. And in case I haven’t bragged enough this post, I will show you my next favorite part…the splits!:

Nooooo silly, these splits!

  • Mile 1–11:06
  • Mile 2–10:40
  • Mile 3–10:20
  • Mile 4–10:00
  • Mile 5–9:58
  • Mile 6–9:44
  • Mile 7–9:11
  • Mile 8–8:16!!!!!!!

Ok, yes, mile 8 is where  all the stars aligned and the traffic lights made my life easier, but I have never in mylife seen an 8:16 mile, so we’re going to pretend that was all me. And Kara. Kara even had serious achilles pain the last few miles and stuck it out and ROCKED it!!! There is no way I could do this without her!!

After our run I made us pumpkin pie smoothies (so yummy) and had to rush to my first physical therapy appt. I finally saw a dr for the pain in my hip and mentioned how my achilles pain is worsening and she recommended physical therapy–3x a week for 4 weeks., Oy! It wasn’t too bad. My right hip is def super tight right now and my range of ankle motion is pathetic. My right foot only barely gets to neutral which is not great. Hopefully this will help. There is nothing that I’m going to let hold me back. I am running this race!

Now I’m in my sweat pants and all I want to do is sit here and drink my delicious hot coffee

Fall is here, I think~~~ YAY!!!! Also, on my rush out the door, I realized this loveliness was waiting for me on the fridge

Most wonderful supportive husband ever. I’m so lucky 😉 I love that he knew the fridge was the place to catch my attention. Haha.

Okay, so here’s what I learned on my run today

1. No matter what happens, long runs are the BEST part of training. 2 out of 2 of us agree 🙂 Few things in life feel better than completing a long run!
2. The days of no food before a long run are no longer. I ate dinner at about 5pm yesterday and never eat before a run because I have to wait 30 minutes after I take my thyroid meds, and then the idea of waiting more time for my food to settle just does not work for me, but I have to figure something out. Today I actually felt myself run out of fuel at about mile 5.
3. The time to start mild carb loading the night before long runs is here (yay?). Nothing crazy, but if you see above, my dinner yesterday was not working for me this morning. I had eaten out at lunch and felt like my calories were probably pretty high so I had a lightish dinner (about 350 calories) which was long gone this morning.
4. I need to get that gu crap. I’ve been avoiding it because it sounds gross and I don’t want to carry it around, but I need the extra burst of energy to get me through now.
5. The time for ice baths is definitely here. I know for seasoned long distance runners, 8 miles is nothing, but before October, I had never run more than 3. Ever. This is an adjustment.
6. When we started, Kara and I both could only run 3 miles (repeat myself much?) leaving a total of 10 miles to train for essentially. Today we reached the half way mark in our training. The last of the half way marks and we really are almost there.
7. If I had eaten, and Kara hasn’t hurt herself today, we could have gone an other mile or 2. I had it in me. I can do this. I can do anything.

Well I guess I have to change out of my sweat pants to go to work. What’s up with dress codes? I can put them back on before I teach voice this evening 😉 The joys of working from home!

Today, I feel really good. I don’t feel overly exhausted. I feel excited and proud and capable. Annnnndddd my last piece of exciting news…!!!!

I’M FINALLY GOING ON VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!

Dec 28-Jan 2: Boston

Jan 2-Jan 4: NYC

I have 2 fabulous friends who have agreed to run with me in NYC–specifically Central Park 🙂 Anyone wanna run with me in Boston? I’m planned my trip around being able to get a long run in before I leave (judge away), but I could use a friend to get me through a couple 3-4 milers in the cold or help me not die of boredom on the treadmill. Let’s make that happen!

I hope everyone’s Friday is going as amazingly as mine!! Have a great weekend everyone!

Cardio, Cardio, But Not a Dumbell in Sight

· by ·

Hi friends! Well, Winston had a pretty great 2nd birthday I think. He started his morning with a treat and ended it with a walk around the block. Walks are his favorite. All I do is say “Go for a walk?” and he starts actin a fool! I started off yesterday with an abs/upper body work out and Spin with my fav teacher Linda! Class was awesome as usual except for one thing! She got off her bike about half way through and started checking everyone to make sure they were at the gear she thought they should be at. She walked around and checked every single bike in the room except for mine! I’m in the corner and I just got skipped. Of course me being a total teacher’s pet wanted to raise my hand and say “Wait wait wait!! Check on me check on me!!! Validate me, my spinning, and my gear!!” But luckily I have some social grace and just kept spinning haha. I was always that kid in school raising my hand super annoyingly so I could get called on and show off how smart I thought I was 🙂 Anyway, I ended spin feeling really good and getting in some decent mileage.

Came home to some delicious oats in a pumpkin butter jar! Sooooo yummy

This morning I went on a 3 mile run all alone since Kara has a lame schedule today, but I maintained a pretty good pace!

Came home, dip 50 dips and called it a tricep work out. I really suck at the strength training lately. Someone please say something motivating so that I can get my butt back to the weight room! I was also surprised with a skinny peppermint mocha from my fabulous husband! I love surprises and coffee surprises are often the best ones! Off to drink more coffee because I’m addicted. Have a fabulous day everyone!

Date Night In

· by ·

One of the main questions I get from people when I discuss my work schedule with them is “How does your husband feel about it?” or “How does it affect your marriage.” I usually smile and say it’s fine and he gets it and blah blah blah. The truth is, he does “get it” and honestly it is what it is, but it does affect our relationship, and lately we’ve been in a little bit of a rut because of it. I am left feeling spread pretty thin which makes me feel needy and he is left getting nothing from me because I don’t have a whole lot left to give, and it is not ideal. But the truth is, come December I will have more free time than I know what to do with and I will be back to being a much better wife and be able to refocus my energy and effort more onto the relationship. In the meantime, we just have to make this work. Luckily, I married the perfect man. Seriously, perfect, and although he may not always get things in a timely manner immediately, he always eventually understands what I need and then goes above and beyond to make me feel special.

Yesterday before I left for work we discussed how we were both feeling about things. Okay, that’s a lie. I talked in overly dramatic circles about how I wasn’t getting what I needed and I don’t feel important and blah blah blah. What can I say? Sometimes I’m a disaster. Anyway, it was all mostly legitimate feeling/concern and when I left, Steve asked if he could take me on a date. I said yes, but honestly was in no mood to get dressed out of my rehearsal clothes and be out in public. But he was trying so I went with it. While I was at rehearsal he was talking about reservation times and finding a place. I got home at about 5 and he banished me to the office while he got out my “surprise”. In case you didn’t know, surprises are the way to my heart. I don’t like to know they’re coming (my dad used to always TELL ME he had a surprise for me and it drove me crazy because I don’t like to not know things!), but when I walk in to a note or an iced coffee, I feel totally loved and special.

Finally I was allowed to leave the office and I came out to this

SURPRISE!!!!! If I would have been able to tell Steve exactly what I wanted, I would have asked to stay home and have dinner cooked for me. Good thing he is a genius. I think seeing him in my apron was maybe my favorite part. I’m sorry, but I think men are cute in aprons–does that make me a weirdo? Anyway, he had gone to my favorite store (Whole Foods) and stocked up on my favorite things!

Turns out, he had googled 2 of my very favorite foods (I don’t have an absolute favorite. I just can’t choose. It would change every day.)

Chilaen sea bass

and

Sweet potatoes

Have you ever had Chilaen sea bass?! It tastes like butter. Seriously. It’s pricey, but oh so worth it!

I got to play photographer while Steve cooked–it was a fun! But I realized that taking amazing pictures the way he does is way harder than it looks!

This amazing buttery brown sugar sauce was used to brush the sweet potatoes. I almost never use real butter so I kept sniffing all of the sauces and saying “Butter! Butter! Everything smells like butter! mmmm! Did you get this recipe from Paula Dean?!”

The good thing about staying in? Spending time with our children puppies! “Dad! What are you cooking? Can I have some? I want to surprise mom too with my amazing eating skills. I will share with her if you just give me a bite!”

“Look mom, I’m sitting! Now can I have some foods? Or at least have you carry me around like a prince? That would be nice too.”

“But excuse me mom and dad, when do I get my dinner? I don’t think you understand that the big bowl of dog food I just devoured was merely a snack. An amuse bouche, if you will…”

Once all the prep work was finished, it was time to take everything out to the grill! I love this part–I know nothing about grilling, so I get to stand there and watch in awe, and occasionally flip something.

I have a confession: When I watch Steve cook, I find it so hard not to give him notes/tips/direction! I HATE when people tell me how to cook, but I have such a hard time letting go of control and not being the one in charge. Guess that’s why I became a director haha. Anyway, it is much easier with the grill because I have no tips or intelligent input.

Prettttttyyy fire!

Of course the puppies were near by. “Dad dad dad dad dad!!! Did you drop anything for me? Look, I’m sitting. Would it help if I acted extra cute?”

At this point, I was practically drooling. I’m sure one classy date.

I am seriously so lucky to have the most amazing husband ever. Thank you babe for the PERFECT night and for always making me feel important and special! XOXO

What is your idea of a perfect date?

Featured Here

Member Of…

FitFluential Is Fitness Found
AZ Bloggers Network
az 150 photo az150_zpsfb093d32.gif

Archives


Image Map