Unintentional Faster Pace

         Today was the day. Today I was going to run 5+ miles again. I hadn't run that distance in almost two weeks. A couple weeks ago I did not run less than 4.5 or 5.5 miles and then the following two weeks my 3 mile runs felt like a struggle. Last Saturday I went out for a run and felt awkward and heavy so I ended up walking 2.5 miles and lifting a little- needless to say I felt defeated. Then, this past weekend a super great friend of mine got married :) :) :) So, the weekend was FILLED with desserts and amazing food- and no I did not say no to any of them. I attempted to run the Monday after and made it 2.5 miles, and it was a disgusting run at that. Yesterday my left hip joint was bugging me, but it hadn't gotten bad enough for me to think much about it so I went to the gym and did some machines to ease back into the work out week. Well, this morning I woke up and every step I took I felt a pain shoot down my left leg, but I figured I was being petty and decided it would be a long run day anyways. To be honest the muscle strain hurt more when I walked then when I ran. I started my run and felt pretty good, but something wasn't right...There were spiders everywhere. No, not garden spiders or the little jumping ones that seem soooo friendly. These were huge spiders with huge webs that always seemed extremely close to where I was running. I did some freaky sounding ducking maneuvers that I didn't even check to see if anyone witnessed. I killed a pretty large spider the other night (my shoe was the weapon and after being used was left on the porch all night for fear that I didn't actually kill it)...my guess is all its friends and family found out and are after me. "Blessing" in disguise is that I sprinted more on my run today, thus a faster pace and unintentional sprints/pace work. I don't really know if it's worth it, but I am still here- no webs attached, hahaha.

          In similiar news- my goals for the week running wise have been 16-20 miles/week. I started off about a month or so ago with these new goals and was reaching 19-20 consistently. It was just one week (last week=indulgence week) that my mileage was a smidge lower. I also didn't run on Sunday due to the lovely wedding so I am trying to make up this week's mileage in these next few days, but we will see- I need to keep a watchful eye on this grandma leg acting up.

          I got it! I think I know why last week was such a lowsy running week- I didn't have peanut butter. Well, don't fret, I went shopping and picked more up :) I also am trying VitaTops for the first time and so far the chocolate and cranberry are scrumptious. I had ice cream and bananas with the chocolate and pb on top of the cranberry, yumm!

         I have a 4 mile treadmill run scheduled for tomorrow morning so that my grandma joints can ease up some. And...our first indoor volleyball game is tomorrow night so wish us luck!

XOXO

PS: Found some really delicious sounding recipes all over the internet today so there should be some bakery posts in the near future, can't wait!

Sweet Potato!

I am feeling carbilicious tonight and so I am opting for an old favorite- sweet potato. She never disappoints me. Never. I can eat sweet potato any which way and almost as much as I can eat Peanut Butter- whoa now, I won't get carried away...I know
that NOTHING compares to PB! Anyways...I figured I would just use what we have around the house and make do. Therefore my Sweet Potato Mash tonight will consist of (granted this may be version 4 or 5 by now)...

1 medium sweet potato baked
1/4 to 1/3 Chopped onion (I like a lot)
Generous portion of FRESH spinach
Baked shredded chicken
Baby grape tomatoes
1/2 cup brown or yellow rice
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
And any spices or herbs you might like to shake in there- I think I will do a smidge of garlic tonight

CAUTION: this makes a whole lotta food!

I just bake the sweet potato for about 30 minutes or if I am being "casual"  lazy then I microwave it...finely chop onion and tomatoes- toss into skillet with spinach- saute for 5 to 7 minutes...I pre-bake the chicken breast (usually takes about 30 to 40 minutes) then hand shred the pieces, not bad I promise, and you get to do what I call testing for taste...For a quick fix I am using Uncle Ben's Brown Rice, but I have also made yellow and slow cooked brown rice...Once all of that is complete place the potato into a bowl and slice open then mash slightly with a fork...plop in the rice, then place shredded chicken, veggies, and herbs into (onto?) potato and top with cheese!

I know it sounds simple but my is it goood. And, it's simply a platform to mess with as more ideas develop! I'm excited for fall and to manipulate the recipe to match the season. When I get a photo of an extra good turnout I'll post, enjoy :) 

PS: this meal is lower in calores, fat, and sodium and offers several health do's, all the doctoring up isn't going to make for any guilty feelings, so give into your craving!

Prepping

Happy Wednesday!

I have a "long" run scheduled for the next two days- but I might move my Friday run to Saturday. Wednesdays and Fridays are full of work and school so I take these days off completely sometimes. A friend of mine has always been adamant in making sure I rest after a good run- this is the same friend that eats ice cream and watches bad horror movies with me, what a well-rounded girl ;)

Anyways- tonight my husband and I surprised a friend who's housesitting with pizza and, for her and I, fruit and yogurt parfaits. Obviously this is a meal for champions...but, honestly I have eaten heavy Mexican food the night before a run and been alright- the first 10 minutes were rough but I think my body just finally realizes that it's going to have to deal with it and pushes on.

My long runs right now are between 4.5 and 5.5 miles. I understand it's not that impressive, but in my own little world I feel pretty alright with it. On my last run (Monday) I passed a man downtown that asked me, "How many miles?" and I told him 4 (I ended up running 5 after his response)...he said back- nothing. Yep, not impressed...so I giggled it off and said, "I know that's not very far," and told him to have a good day. I smiled- sorta and kept on moving. I was now motivated to go further than planned and I think it was God's disguised blessing to prove to myself that I can.

On a more delicious note...when we do sit down and make fuel food=real dinners, they mostly consist of a bunch of ingredients that are around the kitchen and that smell good together ;) I have taken some photos of a few recent meals and will be doing some food posts in the near future! We are by no means perfect eaters- we like too much variety of 'good' and 'bad' (or how my mom used to say, 'devil food'), but with decent portion size, keeping fun food special, and lots of fresh ingredients we try to keep it somewhat well- rounded while still feeling fulfilled.



So, I usually don't divulge this to ANYONE...but I generally run a 9ish minute mile (give or take a smidge here and there), but I am hoping to post later a smaller number! I have also signed up for my FIRST OFFICAL RACE- a 5k in Michigan in about a month...motivaters are always a solid thing.

Have a restful night, a happy tomorrow, and see you soon!
xoxo

Pattern Play

Good Evening? :)

This past week at Mosaic I had fun playing with patterns. We have switched over to fall inventory (YES!) and so we have recieved some beautiful cardigans and sleek blouses. I haven't had much time to switch out our displays as we have been crazy busy, but when certain mannequins were, well, exposed after their clothing was purchased...I guess I had no choice but to play dress-up!
Enjoy :)

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Look 1: Mostly retro items via Mosaic, just the shirt was a simple Macy's purchase. This wasn't my favorite favorite look, but I think it has super laid back potential!
Look 2: Cache Blouse-Mansfield Fur Shop Vintage Crop Jacket-Retro Plaid Mini-Vintage Silk Scarf-all via Mosaic. It's always fun to find new ways to use the gorgeous scarves we get in.
Look 3: Free People Bohemian Dress-Vintage Silk Scarf-A. Byer Blazer- all via Mosaic. Sorry for not having a full length, but I ended up putting this one in the window just because the patterns meshed in such a neat way- and usually I don't like my patterns to mesh but this was pretty together!
Look 4: This was my favorite every day look...BKE Denim-J. Crew Blouse-Banana Republic Cardigan-Necklace via Mosaic-Rawhide Belt via Mosaic. Just pretty colors mixing together and the necklace offset the business of everything.

Goodnight, sleep tight ;)
xoxo

Willing to be a Runner

I have not ever been a runner- and I mean ever. It was not something super duper fun that I thought to do when I was bored nor was it something I was good at even when I tried-hard. I could run a mediocre mile and that was the extent of it. I played sports and elliptical'd it on a weekly basis but no, I did not get my feet sized for running shoes...until now.

I went through a couple of crazy- the good and icky kind- years and needed a release from the anxiety that I insisted my body feel. I was a gym-goer, and not a terrible one, but it got to not be enough for my extreme worry wartness. Once in a while I would run 1 or 1.5 miles on the track just to look cool like everyone else but stopped short by at least 20 minutes. Then, one shiny day, after so much time on other ellipticals and bikes I saw that all my 'normal' i.e. habitual machines were taken and you know what was left?- that pretty treadmill...so, without looking too scared I walked onto one and started to walk-then jog-then run a little. I ended up going just under 2 miles, which I thought was just fabulous. I remember running over to my FARP (FIERCE accountability rec partner) and telling her what I had just done and out of her sweetness attempted to be as excited as I was.

From that point on I kept increasing my goals and I haven't stopped since. Again, I am not a natural- sparkly- 7 minute mile runner, but heck, I'm trying :) I remember the first time I reached 3 miles, I texted just about everyone in my address book- the goofy ones responded with messages full of smiles and exclamation points. I stayed on the treadmill for a while until I got brave enough to venture outside- ew. No, I love being outside I just wasn't sure about running outside. When I did run outside I would make sure to be running when cars passed so that I looked legitimate- cheesy, but it did force me to run futher. I started off doing just a couple miles and mixing it with the treadmill still. Then, feeling fancy I began putting in sprints and tempo runs after reading blogs upon blogs teaching myself how to be a runner- silly huh. Then, one day came 4 miles- again with the texts, mostly to a few girlfriends and my husband. Granted, I have a friend who can run all day long and when I text her about my runs she still gets beside herself and tells me how pumped she is for me- God bless her :) To top it off, just a short while ago I hit my big goal (for now) of surpassing 5 miles! I came off the treadmill and had this big goober smile on my face that I don't know or really care if anyone else saw. It was a great day.

This is such a huge overview of my running and crazy journey thus far, but future posts will zero in on more specific topics- running stories (shew whee), recipes and food ventures, new and old goals, and things I am learning and want to share on the way. I understand that this blog now consits of fashion, history, ridiculous ideas, fitness yearnings, ect, and if that is too messy I apologize, but for now that is where I am at ;) Thanks for reading and see you soon! xoxo

Low Key Leopard

Leopard Print was really IN then it was sorta OUT when everything had some sort of mismatched animal print on it, but I am here to advise (at best) that these prints can still be done, still look uniform and classy, and be modern. This is not much of a snazzy outfit but it's a nice base for more ideas...this is just one I wore to work a couple of weeks ago. It is very comfy, nice moving-flowiness ratio, love the muted colors to play with accessories, and recycles an almost lost top! Here you go :)

I do apologize for the sad attempt at self-potraiting...I really have never been good at taking the "mirror picture." Anyways :) I just paired it with my favorite, wear all too much, basic black gladiators and hair was braided on each side and thrown into a loose, low bun. I am sure you will have some fun ideas of spicing up this look, or just making it your own- have fun! xoxo

Notes: Top- 80s Claiborne, Cropped, Stretch, Leopard Print Tank

           Skirt- XXI, Black, UnEven Skirt

           Necklace- Gold Plated, Long, Tassle Pendant via Buffalo Exchange

Yum Yum..Yum

I indulge..and so should you, but sometimes my tummy says, "whoa there.." and I listen. So, I found this recipe for 100 calorie, chocolate cupcakes. Yes. I was even pleasantly surprised at how moist they were, moister than "normal" sweet treats. I got the recipe from the blog: canyoustayfordinner.com--such a sweet, honest, silly blog with a plethera of great info! Also, these are extra scrumptious with some swirled frozen yogurt..hotdog! No, cupcakes and icecream-nix the guilt :) Enjoy!

1 cup nonfat or low fat milk, dairy or nondairy

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 cup all purpose flour –OR- whole wheat pastry flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with pretty paper liners. Spray them a smidge with nonstick cooking spray.
In a small bowl, stir together milk and vinegar. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, applesauce, and vanilla. Pour in the now curdled milk and mix all ingredients well.
Stir in dry ingredients until just combined. The batter will be thin and wet, so do not be alarmed. Divide it evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Bake for about 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing to cool completely.

PS: I would have posted a photo, but they were all eaten :)

xoxo