What I’ve been up to…

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Sunday there was no workout time. It was go-go-go all day long with shopping, groceries, laundry, etc. Maybe I did 2 miles at Target… My friend Tom took his daughter up to their pecan grove in GA over the weekend and brought us back a bunch of yummy nuts! Maybe over pumpkin or gingerbread pancakes? BTW: I saw this recipe today for pumpkin banana chocolate chip bread and I have decided it is pumpkin time. I know most bloggers have been all over that, but it’s 90 degrees here still. Not much like fall. BUT I wore my boots twice, so now I think I can eat some pumpkin yummy goodness.

Here’s me (with Ragnar friends) in boots last Sunday because I wanted it to feel like fall:


I even tried to tie on a scarf…

Monday I started the day with Yoga. When my favorite yoga teacher moved to CA, I came to her last class with an MP3 player that had a voice recorder and made an audio recording of the class. For the first time, I copied it to my laptop and did her class in my living room. Brian was on his laptop in the living room at the time and said I was breathing like Darth Vader. I guess I remembered my bandhas a bit.

At work I drew some Rubik’s cubes for a party logo. I may have made a few web pages. For dinner we made pizza bagels using Thomas’ whole wheat bagels, Ragu pizza quick sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Tuesday started off with 75 mins yoga flow. Some moms from school were there.

I decided I wanted to eat a vegetarian lunch, and made white bean hummus with some canned beans that were left in the fridge. I piled them in a whole wheat pita with romaine lettuce and stir fry veggies from this bag. The flavors blended well and it was tasty, but you can’t make it far in advance or the pita gets a wet, mushy texture.

Tonight was TV-bonding with the kids. New season starting of Glee, New Girl and Raising Hope all in a row with my favorite girls! Well, we also had some schedule planning to do for while I’m in Orlando for the Wine and Dine, and physics studying, and perhaps an hour of my own work for clients. When I called a mom of one of Wendy’s friends to see if she could spend 3 nights at their house, she said yes before she even checked her calendar. Yep, Wendy is just that fun! And she makes the omelets with spinach and salsa wrapped in tortillas. My friend was quite amused when Wendy whipped one up for her husband last time she stayed there, and he said his wife should take cooking lessons from Wendy. I think this time I’ll send her with my mom’s sweet & sour meatball recipe – she’s pretty good at making those all on her own – over rice.

I have a confession: I loved Zooey Deschanel in Elf, but I do NOT like her recorded music since.  Alice would call it “Hipster”. Meanwhile, Alice has been waking up to the country western radio station – BLECH!!! She asked me which was worse, hearing that first thing in the morning or an alarm going off. I had to think that one through, but I decided the beeping annoyance of an alarm is actually worse.

I bought this new Revlon ColorStay Aqua mineral powder. I use it as foundation. It goes on with a brush (which wasn’t fluffy enough and I substituted my own) and has SPF in it! But here’s the cool part. It’s supposed to hydrate your skin, right? It contains coconut water for instant hydration – and you can feel the wetness as it goes on. Although it has the texture of a powder, and the light coverage of a powder – I had to stop the first time I put it on and check to make sure the brush hadn’t gotten wet. It actually feels wet going on your skin! I’ve never felt anything like it, and if you want a sheer coverage with a bit of SPF I recommend it!

Tomorrow I have meetings all day long! One to see a new office space downtown, one with drinkchianow.com and one with a potential client – a dermatologist with a poorly constructed web site.

And I leave you with this: Would you rather eat chocolate chips out of the bag or peanut butter out of the jar?

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BITTS 5k, gross food & Coupon deals

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Saturday I ran the first BITTS 5k.

B.I.T.T.S. is a local boot camp. I don’t know what it stands for, but my friend Sandy does their bootcamp a few days a week, and has Brian as her running coach the other days. Since the BITTS lady knows Sandy runs, she asked her to help organize the 5k. There wasn’t much to organize their first time around. It was just at a local park with chalk arrows on the ground showing our course.
The race benefited Operation Attack on Poverty. If you brought food or clothing donations it was free.

Sandy & me before the 5k, 6:55am

The sights were boring at first – mobile homes and parking lots – but ended with a lake, bridge and trees.

They had smoothie coupons, water bottles and pens in little drawstring backpacks as goodie bags. Then a Kodak rep came with BPA-free reusable, collapsible water pouches on carabiners. Those were cool! I got some more from her to use for Digital Running goodie bags.

There were prizes for the first 4 finishing males and females, and a few random prize drawings. They picked “16th female” out of the basket, and I won an oil change. That’s probably my first race prize! They also had a prize for the first finishing stroller-pusher. She got a Kodak all-in-one photo printer-scanner-fax machine! (But she handed the stroller off to her husband and mile 2 so some say she cheated, but she was the only one with a stroller so she won by default).

I ran in my Tees by Tina tank top, spinning shorts from Bodyrock, Brooks shoes – don’t remember the socks. I had a Bondi Band that I actually wore on my wrist to wipe away sweat.

Me, post-5k

I also made a new playlist, and some of the songs were from online suggestions of songs I never even heard before. I checked to make sure they had the right tempo, and then chose 14 random songs to keep my feet moving and surprise my brain that morning. (14, in case I fast-forwarded through some).

The funniest part of the race (for me) was running towards the 2-mile marker, which was the BITTS lady’s dad in a lawn chair pointing which way to go. Right at that moment Axl Rose was singing “Where do we go now?” from Sweet Child o’ Mine (they weren’t ALL new songs, but it was an online suggestion) and the lyrics just went perfectly with the seated dad pointing me around to the right.

I went in the race knowing I avg a 12-min-mile and came away with a 36+ min 5k, so I was right where I expected. But my friend Janet said the course was long.

What they need next year: Music & someone stretching people out at the finish. Or if they want to attract a larger crowd – a chip-timing system. But since all I was expecting was a little neighborhood 5k, it was just fine.

Songs I ran to: Warmed up to Coming Home – Diddy Dirty Money
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree – got me started off right
Moves Like Jagger – by now my heart figured out that I was running and this makes me smile
Stronger – Kanye version (since OJ had Isotoners…)
Boys & Girls – by Pixie Lott (hadn’t listened to her in many months)
Waka Waka – we used to dance to this in Zumba class so it gets me moving!
Keep Your Head – the Ting Tings (new to me)
Tightrope – Janelle Monae (new to me, I skipped the last 2 mins)
Gone Daddy Gone – Gnarls Barkely (recommended online) kept me from taking a walk break
Run Run Away – Slade (the old 80s song, ended up skipping it)
Sweet Child o Mine – GnR version
In My Head – Jason Derulo (one of those songs I am embarrassed to admit I dance my butt off to in the car.)

lunch of champions

I had a volunteer meeting for a fundraiser that afternoon where we were treated to a diner lunch and gelato – the snacks of 5k running champs I’m sure! I got 2 eggs over hard, has browns and plain whole wheat toast (which was under $4!) I was surprised that the diner was decked out with Marilyn Monroe art and memorabilia. Choosing a gelato flavor was much more difficult. I ended up with half extra-dark chocolate and half turtle cheesecake. YUM!

While we were talking on the sidewalk eating gelato we met up with a guy who started a 501c3 that sets up booths around town where people can paint wooden swings, and they hang the swings around the city. (Does that make him the lead Swinger?) I’m not really sure how they raise money or what for (I’ll read about it eventually), but I suggested he do pink swings for Oct. Breast Cancer Awareness month and help support My Hope Chest, and he really liked that idea. If any of you bloggers want to write a PINK POST for Oct. Breast Cancer Awareness month, I am friends with the Founder of My Hope Chest and can provide answers to interview questions, artwork, data, etc.

That night we had a couple fun things going on. Some of our friends are in a Rotary group. Their Rotary is raising money to create a Flugutag to race for the Tampa Bay Red Bull Flugtag. (Seriously, click that Flugtag link. Even the first 10 seconds are worth the giggle.) They had a movie night in someone’s backyard. They were projecting Anchorman on a big sheet and set up chairs and had food & beverages for sale. The great news is that the hosts live a few blocks from us and want to start hosting movie night every Fri. Basically they’ll just project a movie and let friends know which one it is, and if it’s something you like you can stop on by. Brian and I got cozy in the hammock – but we missed the end of the movie because I got a text…

**WARNING – GROSS FOOD AHEAD** Our friends wanted to take a little adventure to find Munchies 420 Cafe – a hole-in-the-wall in Sarasota that manages to put everything and anything on a sandwich. Take for example the FAT SANDY which is a footlong hoagie with 2 cheeseburgers, chicken strips, onion rings, crinkle cut fries and mozzerella sticks – and to hold it all together it is topped with Mac&Cheese! Although I am always up for an adventure in the middle of a Sat night, I am not always into foods that will cause tummy problems, heartburn and 3 weeks of running off extra calories. Thus I went along, but did not order junk food for myself. I did try their still-warm homemade potato chips and they were delicious. The verdict in the Fat Sandy? The burgers were over cooked and pulled off, one chicken tender was over fried, but the rest blended together in a hard-to-eat, wonderous munchie fantasy. The onion rings were the best part. Or so I was told. By the time we drove back across the bridge from Sarasota I was wiped out and fell asleep before I could count backwards from 99.

– To quickly backtrack to what I missed blogging about earlier last week, Fri I didn’t workout since I knew I was going the 5k on Sat. The Cross Country team came in first place for Varsity Girls. Alice ran despite her tendonitis and took a few mins off last week but is not quite back to below 23 mins yet. Their new shirts say “May the Course be with you” :) Thurs I did a 3.4 mile run to prep. Not what I would suggest if you are RACING a 5k, but fine for just getting out there and running a 5k.

Deals I took advantage of at Publix this week:

V8 Fusion (instead of the apple juice the kids drink) – Buy one at $3.99, get one free. And I had a $1 off coupon off each, so I got 2 for $1.99 – that makes them $1/ea. We don’t buy the Light because it has sucralose. (Don’t eat foods that rhyme with gross!)

Hunts tomato sauce BOGO – this is the larger can than I usually buy, but I can use half at a time and keep the other half in a jar in the fridge. So for us it’s 4 meals worth of tomato sauce for $2.

Publix frozen organic margherita pizza on sale $3.99

Polaner all fruit spread – this is part of Brian’s PBJ lunch staple – on sale 2 for $5. Coupons on their web site.

Herbal Essences (the usual deal) 2/$5 and $1 off coupon. I wish I had 2 coupons… My kids use a lot of shampoo!

“Buy theirs, get ours free” deal. I bought 2 bags of Nestle chocolate chips with a Save $1/2 coupon and got 2 bags of Publix chocolate chips free. 2 bags are going in the freezer for Thanksgiving when we bake whatever suits our fancy. One is getting hidden in the pantry for me to munch on after dinner at night the next few weeks (shh), and one is going in banana bread that I am baking later today.

And I had a “spend $50 get $10 gift card” coupon, so I’ll save $10 next week. My receipt showed a savings of $35.94.

Then we got free tampons at Target. On sale for $6.99 & I had a $2 off coupon = $5. Their special was buy a box, get a Target $5 gift card = like getting it free! I try to buy my bananas at Target too – they are always cheapest there. $.24/banana. Everyone else sells them buy the pound, but I have done the math and for us it’s cheaper, plus we eat about 12 bananas a week at our house.

Target has Kashi TLC bars Buy 5 get the 6th box free. I put that with 3 coupons – 2 said Save $1.50/2 boxes and one said Save $1.50/any box. So I save $4.50 plus got the free box and we’ll have TLC bars the next few weeks for lunchboxes and the occasional breakfast-on-the-go.

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Drawing Animals

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Last night Wendy asked if I wanted to draw with her. This school year she has been drawing almost every evening after dinner. She said, “We can draw animals, aliens or play finish-the-drawing.” And she tried to win me over with a goofy face:

Finish-the-drawing is when someone draws a head, and then folds the paper over and hands it to the next person to draw a body without seeing the head – they just leave lines where the neck left off, and then that person gives it back to draw the legs. It’s a great airplane game.

I opted for drawing animals.

I drew animals on the runway

In the audience you’ll see Big Bird, Lady Gaga, a pig, and a photographer. On the runway from L to R is a horse, a cat in a 1-shoulder dress and argyle socks, a peacock – and a spider that crashed the event.

Wendy drew animals too.

Animals in a 50's Malt Shop

I added the speech bubble though. But the paper order slips on the spinning thing was all her :)

I made lentils. I tried a new recipe with red lentils and apple.

adapted from here http://yeahthatveganshit.blogspot.com/2008/10/curried-apple-lentil-dal.html

I’ve never had apples in lentils or in any curry, so I went easy on the apple. I needn’t have worried though. It was yummy. Funny how the apple looks like potato in there, but is probably much better for me.

I’ve had 2 lunches from it so far and I think I’ll have one more. Yesterday I had it with a romaine salad, and today I had it with a bowl of mashed banana + vanilla yogurt + cinnamon.

Dear Yogurt People – please stop using Aspartame! I would by ONLY Stonyfield Farms if it was always in my budget…

Today I did 75 minutes of Power Yoga to start the day. I request utilizing the wall during our class, and we did our inversions up the wall at the end of class. Yesterday Brian worked out at the park with me. We did this:

5 min warmup
Sprint 45 sec (he said this comes to early in the workout, but I think Gina was trying to raise heart rates.)
Walking lunges 30 sec
Jog 2min
30 sec bench pushups
Jog one min
Sprint 45 sec
tricep dips 3o sec
Jog 2min
High knees 45 sec
Squats 45 sec
Butt kicks 45 sec
Jog 2 mi. Easy pace
Sprint 1 min
Tricep dips 30 secs
Jog 2 mm.
Push ups 3o secs
Jog 5 min easy

(adopted from http://fitnessista.com/bootcamp)

Now that our Ragnar Relay TN team for Nov is full, we are starting to look for team members for our DEL SOL team in FEB. Want to run through Tempe, AZ? Let me know! Learn more here… http://www.digitalrunning.com/2012-del-sol-ragnar-relay. And know that I’ll be the one crossing the T’s and Dotting the I’s so you’ll have a grand ‘ole time!

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Running Twins

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Never did my daughter think that by being on the school’s running teams, she’d become a mentor – but she has.

Her school starts at 3 years old and goes through high school. The Track and Cross Country teams start in 6th grade and go through 12th grade. Sure, there’s JV and Varsity, but they all pretty much work out together, take buses to events together, have the same spaghetti dinners, etc.

So when Alice was in 8th grade last year and befriended a 6th grader who had STAR potential, the 6th grader started really looking up to Alice. They already had a lot in common, they were both great students, great runners, older sisters, Jew-ish (get it?), at the same school, and super TYPE-A STRESS-OUT personalities. When Alice would watch this other girl stress out before a meet, she’d try to help calm her down, and in turn begin to calm herself.

Now Alice is in 9th grade, so she’s like the super cool high schooler to the now-7th grader. Yet, they still have their inside jokes and silly high-socks and share planned-out snacks at meets.

This week Alice experienced some tendonitis in her right ankle. Just above her ankle bone she started getting very sore. Brian was pretty sure it was tendonitis, and the athletic trainer at the school confirmed his suspicion, and suggested that Alice’s racing flats were too worn. She has put them on for the first time this season for a timed 5k trial, ran hard and fast enough to secure herself a varsity spot, but then hurt for days afterwards in that ankle.

They got this news on Thursday, and Saturday (today) is the first meet of the season, so they had to get her new shoes – and fast! Our neighborhood running store is Feet First. We usually have great success there and recommend it to others. Alice found both the running shoes and racing spikes she wanted there. (First spikes!) She got the Saucony Progrid Mirage (bye bye Kinvara) in a bright blue that is so vibrant she calls them her toothpaste shoes. And she got the Saucony Kilkenny XC4 spikes in black with hot pink. (Were these named after South Park? she wants to know…) They did not have the spikes in her size at either store (she actually wanted the running shoes in an 8.5 but the spikes in a 9.5????), so Brian ended up having to drive her out to Sports Authority to buy them. (I wish someone had called my cell on the way and I would have texted over a COUPON.)

So now, she has some hot new Sauconys to rock today! I do not repeatedly say Saucony because I receive compensation. It’s just the shoe her slender foot likes, and we have so many boxes from their shoes in the garage now I could build an awesome fort!

Then he took her to CVS and got some Icy-Hot spray to help her over the next few days. And I think she took 2 ibruprofen each day as well. (We’re not a big medication family…) Unfortunately, her first 5k will be in brand new shoes. Keep your fingers crossed because girls varsity is probably at the start line as I type this. (I’m not there, I have a bridal shower to go to soon. Yes, I look adorable.)

BUT back to her little running buddy… So Alice goes to school with her new shoes on Friday. She decides to wear the Mirages all day to break them in and help her ankle feel better because they are probably better for her foot than her Keds or ballet flats from Payless that she usually wears. And I think she threw her spikes in her bag to break in a bit during XC practice. And along comes her little 7th grade buddy who ALSO bought new shoes this week — and, you know this is coming, got the SAME FREAKING TWO PAIR IN THE SAME COLORS – totally coincidentally!! No way-no way!

Sadly, her little running buddy will not be at the meet today because she is on antibiotics for walking pneumonia.

They are really looking forward to running together at the annual Disney Cross Country Classic and then staying overnight at a Disney hotel and perhaps hitting a water park the next day. Disney pissed off a lot of parents, however, by putting this event on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish Calendar. I understand, though, that it is always the same week of Oct to mesh with all the other stuff on the Disney calendar and Fla running calendar. It’s really Yom Kippur that moved, since it’s a lunar holiday and thus is on a different week of the Western calendar each year.

I’m so happy Alice has this opportunity to feel like the cool teen friend. Although the 2 girls have a great friendship, deep down I know this kid looks up to Alice, and I know Alice recognizes that and tries to keep the younger girl in the loop all the time. Not to mention it’s a bit of a self esteem boost.

I have not much new to report except that I did more yoga and went to at an art opening called F*** The Big C. The artists on display were all cancer survivors from around the world. One was on hand to answer the same questions over and over (that shows patience!) and she did a bit of an interactive piece as well.

Click for source

The artist (on the right) had thyroid cancer followed within the year by breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. She is donating proceeds from the event to My Hope Chest, who I volunteer with frequently. My Hope Chest is the only National NonProfit that helps survivors without insurance obtain breast reconstruction surgery.

NO SPOILER: Last night we watched The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. I give it a B. Not a B+. If Johnny Depp were not in that role, it would probably be a C. It’s a lot more girly and less action than the commercials made it seem.

And just because everyone seems to want to know: For breakfast I had 1/2 whole wheat Thomas’ bagel with Skippy natural crunchy PB on top and a drizzle of honey. And water. It’s thrilling, I know. But lunch will be grand! I am off to a bridal shower, because next month my friend Meredith will marry her best friend Scott. It’s a beautiful thing!!

Enjoy your weekend!!

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Fit2Run and Fudgey Cake

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Thurs night I tried something new. We had been doing the occasional Thurs night run around the baseball stadium (endearingly known as “The Trop“), but it was time for a change of scenery. At last Saturday’s Tampa blogger meetup, I received a flyer about the Fit2Run Runner’s party. You probably don’t have a Fit2Run near you, which is just too bad! It is a running store with a very large shoe selection, running gear, a smoothie bar, clothes, and treadmills with video cameras hooked up to them so you can have a gait analysis. They usually have a large presence at Disney runs in Orlando, so you can look for them there.

Anyway, one of the Managers is runner and coach Gary Robinson, and he put together a team of women training for the Women’s Half in St Pete. (Which will be about 3 miles from my house, so let me know if you come to town for it.) I think they meet 3x/wk and they pay him something or other. But you can join in on Thurs night leaving from the Fit2Run store in the nicest mall in Tampa for free. And once a month or so the Thurs night run becomes a running party – he gives a little talk afterwards and there is free food and some adult drinks. There are supposed to be shoe vendors there letting you try their shoes (like, actually run in them for the night) and free sock giveaways.

On the way to the mall it was pouring rain, and we had to cross the bridge from St Pete, which was bumper to bumper in 6pm + thunderstorm traffic. We were 5 minutes late, but the rain was down to a drizzle, and they were just thinking about actually attempting the run.

I had S with me. She usually runs with Brian & Alice because her pace is about 2 min faster than mine, but she had already done her 6 miles that morning and kind of came just to see what it was about, so she agreed to drop down to my slow pace and stick it out with me. We did about 3.8, and the first 3 miles disappeared because S talked through them the whole way. It was delightful! I told her when I am sick, or in pain, or getting blood drawn – doing something where I want me mind off it – I try to get Brian to talk to me but he can’t just babble, especially when asked. I love being distracted when I’m doing something I don’t enjoy. Oh, like during childbirth! But S on the other hand was able to chit chat with me for 3 miles about running clothes matching other running gear, and where to order them online, and whether she should blog about running fashion, and the wedding she’s going to be in soon, and and and… it was great! When we got home I said to Alice, “I love running with her because the time flies by as she talks!” And Alice agreed completely.

At the end of the run I tried their TROPICAL BLEND smoothie made from fresh Pineapple, fresh mango, fresh papaya and OJ; as well as a piece of their hummus sandwich. They also had turkey sandwiches, beer, wine, and “pink squirrel” smoothies. The shoe vendors cancelled because of the rain, though.

I came home and had a green Flatout with some melted provolone, baby spinach and spicy mustard. I think it was after 9pm, though.

Fri morning I woke up for Core Yoga. The teacher sounds cutesy and immature with her word choice and inflection, but the class she puts together is great. I wish she could see a video of herself and tailor her verbiage better. She says “go ahead” a lot, such as, “Now we’re going to go ahead and tuck our toes, and go ahead and lift your hips…” Hopefully she’ll improve with time.

I had a decent day at work. I was putting together a website for a yoga instructor, ironically. And a logo for a new product coming on the market that I am not allowed to discuss :) We also enjoyed some online buzz after we ran our interview with Meghann Anderson of the Healthy Living Summit.

Fri night we rented Limitless.(Not a spoiler) Bradley Cooper (who I enjoyed in Alias) is a writer who lives in New York City. He is failing to meet the deadline to turn in his new book. One day, Eddie comes across the brother of his ex-wife, and he offers Eddie a sample of a new drug, claiming it has the ability to help you access 100% of the brain’s power, as opposed to the normal 20%. Eddie accepts, and chaos ensues. De Niro is in it too. Some fast-paced action but not the whole way through, not too gory, not too sexy. I give it an A- and we were all able to enjoy it as a family. (Remember my girls are teenagers.)

I also promised Brian fudgey cake this weekend. I baked 2 9″ rounds and expected to frost them into one cake, but Wendy did not like the frosting, so I over-frosted one and left the other plain. I used this recipe for the cake, which then left me with not enough cocoa for the Nestle frosting. But I had Baker’s squares, so I made their frosting. The cake is delicious but stuck to the pans a lot even though I sprayed and floured. So if you make this, spray and flour a LOT. I used whole wheat flour and slightly less sugar, and you can’t tell at all!

Saturday we woke up at 5:15 to meet people at 6am to run. Brian and S did 10 miles with one of our other regulars. S brought me an awesome present, a new OM Bondi Band! So now I have one with an OM for yoga and one that says RUN for running! (I’m sure I’ll get a photo eventually…) COUPON: Use code FIVE at checkout on BondiBand.com to get 5 Bondi Bands for $25. S would encourage this so you have one to match each running shirt! I did 3 miles, and for the first time in a long time I had to do it alone. I ran along the waterfront and there was actually a cool breeze I had not felt in probably 4-5 months! I’ve now showered, made a list of stuff to get done for the weekend, and I hope to have some swimming pool and BBQ time before Labor Day is done! Enjoy your long weekend!

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