What kind of pants are those?

Dec 31, 2013

Yesterday was a pretty chill day. I got up and ran first thing. It really does feel good to get it done in the morning. I ran 7 miles at an average pace of 8:11 and I don’t really remember running it. I don’t know if I was super tired or thinking about stuff, but it was done before I knew it.

Since I didn’t eat before my run, I was pretty hungry when I got home. I whipped up a quick batch of Tina’s OMG Pancakes. Molly has always loved them and AB has started to eat them now too.

Leftovers for breakfast this morning. 🙂

Annabelle also enjoyed a croissant the size of her head.

I headed straight down to my parent’s house (I showered later at their house) and I really didn’t want to take off my Athleta tights. They are so warm and comfortable.

Annabelle loves going to my parent’s house because they have a bunch of new toys for her to play with. 🙂 She didn’t like her pony at first, but she is warming up to her.

The rest of the day was spent…

-eating lunch

-manicures with my mom

PS I love my snowflake leggings and they are super soft, but all my dad could say about them was “What kind of pants are those? They are interesting.” Men just don’t know fashion. 😉

-Chipotle for dinner. I can count the number of times I’ve eaten at Chipotle on one hand, but it is super good whenever I have it.

Big day planned today…car inspection (doing that now), work, workout, and then a wild New Year’s Eve celebration. 🙂

What are your New Year’s plans?

Chipotle fan?

Do you like my leggings?

Baby Fest 2013: Christmas Edition

Dec 29, 2013

On Saturday, a group of my friends (friends since elementary and middle school!) got together for our annual ornament exchange.  Each year we get together, eat lots of good food, and exchange ornaments.  It is always fun when we get to see each other and even more fun now that we have a bunch of little ones running around.  It was slightly chaotic.  🙂

Annabelle and Bennett mesmerized by the glass door.  Happy 1st Birthday Bennett!

For the food, we did a potluck and it worked out great.  I hosted this time and I am not capable of preparing a good meal for a large group of people.  We had bbq chicken sandwiches, broccoli salad, fruit salad, taco dip, pita chips with guacamole, cookies, and a pretzel/jello/whipped cream dessert.

Here are the ornaments from this year. 🙂 It is so fun to look back at all of the ornaments from previous years and it’s great to get 5 new ornaments every year.  (I have no idea why this picture is sideways, but I am way too tired to try and fix it.  Just tilt your head to the left for a better view).

The gang!  Kristie and her daughter Kaylee, Justin and Amber holding their son Linden, Me and Annabelle, Kate holding Bennett who she stole from Amber and Justin, and Lauren and Rob  (PS Rob is my #1 fan and I greatly appreciate his readership.)

Love these people so much.  🙂

Do you have any ongoing holiday traditions?

Are you still in touch with friends from high school and/or college?

Beating the holiday blues…and the holiday bulge.

Dec 28, 2013

I hope everyone had a great holiday with lots of family time and food! I LOVE the holiday season, so I always get bummed once Christmas is over.

How do I fight the “Christmas is over” blues? Don’t let go!

-I’m still listening to Christmas music and enjoying my decorations.

-I’m still hosting holiday gatherings. (More on this fun time later).

-I’m still eating leftovers from Christmas Eve…I guess I should let those go soon right? This was a bagel sandwich made with ham from Honeybaked Ham.

How do I fight the “holiday bulge”? Workouts!

-Insanity! On Thursday I needed a quick but effective workout. The solution was a Cardio Max workout from the Insanity DVDs.

-Running! Duh, right? I did 7.5 miles on Friday and 10.5 today. Today’s run was very chilly, but I got to try out my new running clothes from Athleta and my new North Face running gloves.

Anybody else get bummed when the most wonderful time of the year is over?

What was your workout today?

A very Merry First Christmas!

Dec 25, 2013

We had an absolutely perfect day. I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family. Ending the night watching Home Alone with Chris and my parents. Annabelle went to sleep early…she had a very busy day playing with her new toys. 🙂

Enjoy the rest of your Christmas!!

A very Christmas Eve Eve.

Dec 24, 2013

After a weekend full of eating, I was more than ready for a run yesterday. I hit the treadmill at lunch and ran 8 miles in 63 minutes…slowest mile was 9 minutes and fastest mile was 6:58. 🙂

This is Gina…she is super sweet and running so fast that she is just a blur.

After our run, we finished our workout with some good old fashioned planking.
—————————————————–
My evening was spent with Annabelle and my parents and we did all sorts of Christmasy stuff!

1. AB opened up her first Christmas present. Thanks for the pjs Miss Marissa and Sean!

2. We got Starbucks and rode around to see Christmas lights.

This house is awesome! They have their own radio station and the lights change to the music. 🙂

3. We baked destroyed a batch of cookies…

I tried to make these…

(From Heather)

…and they did not turn out very well. This is where the first batch ended up.

I kept the second batch (because I couldn’t make myself throw them away) but I’m not sure what I will do with them. They aren’t terrible but they are really dry. 😦 I def blame human error on this one.

Anybody want some freshly baked cookies???

The night ended with me frantically wrapping a few presents and getting to bed at 1 am. Staying awake at work today should be a challenge…

It’s Christmas Eve!!!! I’m so excited for Annabelle’s first Christmas!!

Anybody else ruin some cookies this year?

What does your family do tonight?

What is the best thing you will eat tomorrow???

My weekend in pictures.

Dec 23, 2013

I hope you had a great weekend!

We are Christmasing it up tonight…cookies, movies, hot chocolate, and Christmas lights viewing!

What are your plans for tonight???

Santa and Date Night

Dec 21, 2013

Yesterday was a good day! I managed to fit in a 10 mile run at lunch with my friend Serge and it felt great.

Added bonus…it was warm enough to wear shorts!!!

My new hairstyle…

After work, Annabelle met the big guy for the first time! I’ll post some pics later (they are still in my car and I’m too lazy to go get them). 🙂

My parents were super awesome (as usual) and they took AB for the night. Chris and I hadn’t had a date night for quite sometime, so it was great to have some alone time. We had an awesome dinner…

Oyster Po Boy

Brussels Sprouts

Salad with grilled seafood

And the main event…ice cream trio and warm chocolate chip pistachio cookies.

Next, we went to see American Hustle. The movie started at 10:40 and was over 2 hours long, but I’m happy to report we both stayed awake the whole time. 🙂 Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper, yes please!

I hope you have a great Saturday! Annabelle started her day off right…weight training.

Are you attending any Christmas parties this year? Yes! I have two this weekend!

Thursday (random) Things

Dec 19, 2013

Wednesday workout: 5.6 miles and a 3 minute plank

Thursday workout: 5.6 miles and a 3:30 minute plank

Fun holiday head gear!

A long winter’s nap. 🙂

Ever wonder what ladies carry around in our purses? I didn’t think so, but I’m telling you anyway. 😉

– gum
– tissues
– nail clippers
– cuticle cream
– hand cream
– Chapstick
– 2 kinds of lip gloss: Rimmel and Victoria’s Secret (I’m super into lip gloss right now).

Hand cream is so necessary because my hands are doing this from being so dry…

Note to self: need manicure this weekend

Finishing up my Christmas cards tonight!

Please tell me something happy and exciting about your day!!!

Crazy socks and a new ride.

Dec 18, 2013

Yesterday was Tacky Holiday Sock day in my office. I went above and beyond and wore capris so my socks were showing all day long.

I tried out a new Zone Bar for breakfast and it was pretty good. The consistency was similar to a Lara Bar and the flavor was great.

During lunch, I finally got back to Body Pump and it felt so good. Not so good today though…my legs are sore! After class, I hopped on the stair climber for 10 minutes. It’s amazing how sweaty I can get in just 10 minutes on that thing.

Lunch was a classic pb and j and a Strawberry Chobani yogurt. I will never get sick of peanut butter.

My afternoon snack was a honey crisp apple…this is what happens when you try to cut an apple with a plastic knife.

After work, my parents and I headed to the mall for some Christmas shopping. Annabelle was really thrilled to try out her new ride. (It was only $12 at Target!)

This picture was taken after I told her she could have some ice cream after dinner.

My dinner was food court Chinese food and I have to admit, it wasn’t bad. I was starving though, so maybe anything would have tasted good.

The night ended in a pretty good way…an Oreo McFlurry and Home Alone 2.

Have a great Wednesday!!

Favorite holiday movie?

Are you done shopping yet?

Poor Molly.

Dec 17, 2013

Since it didn’t get higher than 25 degrees yesterday, I hit the treadmill once again. I ran 6.5 easy miles in 60 minutes. Thank goodness for for TV and this show. Anybody know what it is???

I also did some walking push-ups, tricep push-ups, and a 3 minute plank.

I was more than ready for lunch after my workout. My company was way better than the food. 🙂

Can you believe she will be 1 in less than a month???

We went to our happy place after lunch. Yup, Target. It was 3:30 and the place was packed. Annabelle got to test out one of her Christmas presents while we shopped.

While me and Annabelle went broke shopped, Chris took Molly to the vet. She broke one of her nails while playing in the ice/snow the other day and we wanted to get it checked out. The result…a week of medication and a cone. 😦

It is so sad, she will not move when she wears it. She just stands there looking all sad and hang dog.

Poor girl.

The night ended with Papa John’s pizza and a Ravens win!

How do you pass the time on the treadmill?

Do you have any pets?