Happy 3rd Birthday, Food.Fitness.Fashion!

It is hard to believe that my blog is three years old! I have come a long way since my very first post. Well, I will say I am so glad to be out of the “terrible two’s”. This year has been stressful for me and that has certainly effected my blog in a lot of ways. Let’s take a look back at my “terrible two’s” shall we?

• I had several injuries including a sprained ankle – times 3, a broken foot and plantar fasciitis.
• I got laid off from my full-time job after four years of service.
• I was super stressed finishing up my Master’s degree.
• I dealt with the stress of a complete house renovation.
• I had a lot of family related stress.

There were also so many great things in the past year.

• I finished my Masters! 
• I now live in my dream home (worth all the work and stress).
• I ran my first marathon.
• I started my DREAM career.
• I started writing for Coffee with Caesar.
• I now have a beautiful neice!

It has certainly been an interesting year. I can’t believe the amount of unexpected curve balls that got thrown my way! I would be lying if I said that the stress did not effect me. It did! It effected every part of my life and certainly effected my blog. I am excited to be clear of the terrible twos and I am ready for year three. I am hoping this year brings a consistency of quality posts and some fun and exciting projects. Thanks a milion for sticking with me through the the last year of my life. My blog suffered because I did and you all came back. I am not sure why, but I am glad you did!

So, here is what I have been up to. As you know, I was working as a high school guidance counselor at a local high school for the past 6 months. I was covering a maternity leave so last week I finished up. I was so sad to leave. I loved my job and leaving a job you love without wanting to is really difficult. Especially when you are working with students and a staff that you really like and can depend on. I have spent the last week training for my summer position where I will be working as a job coach in a program for teens and young adults with autism spectrium disorders. I have experience working with people on the spectrum so I think I will really love this job. I also got a job working at the Navy Yard Bistro and Wine Bar, one of my favorite restaurants in town, a few nights a week. I have been training there as well! So far I am loving it. The staff is friendly, the food and wine list are out of this world and the location is perfect! It is foodie heaven. In addition to those things, I have spent the last few days “spring cleaning” and organizing our house. Even though we have lived here for about 6 months, I haven’t totally had the time to unpack and organize everything. I am finally getting there now!

So that is it for updates…back to our regularly scheduled program.

Yesterday morning I work up starving. I could only thing of one thing….WAFFLES! I toasted two kashi wafffles and topped then with whipped butter, natural maple syrup and some chopped almonds.

I was supposed to go to Ultimate Bootcamp in the morning, but Adam accidently shut off my alarm clock. He was working crazy hours so it is totally understandable. I ended up sleeping through the class. I was bummed out when I woke up, but I thought I would just enjoy a nice run instead. We are in the middle of a heat wave right now in Boston. I decided to do a short run, considering my body is not used to 98 degree weather yet. I set out for a 3 mile run. It was tough! The heat made the run uncomfortable and made my breathing pretty labored. At 2.15 miles I decided to call it quits! 2.15 miles in 98 degree heat was good enough for me! I ran it in 20:04.

Splits:

• Mile 1- 9:16
• Mile 2-9:25
• .15-1:22

I stopped running outside a local coffee shop. Oh so convenient! I got an iced coffee with sugar free vanilla syrup and half and half to enjoy during the walk back to my house. Running in that kind of heat deserves a reward!

 

Once I got home I immediately showered. I was a sweaty mess! Yesterday’s Outfit:

 

 

 

Navy and white tie dye dress (TJ Maxx), white cami (Forever 21), brown belt (Target), brown braided sandals (Target).

I spent the late morning and early afternoon running some errands. Around 1pm I met two of my co-workers out for lunch. Since I am leaving to give the counselor on maternity leave her job back, they wanted to take me out for lunch. It  was sweet of them. We met at the Cheesecake Factory. I decided to go with just water to drink. It was so hot and humid out! We started off with an appetizer of asian style lettuce wraps. I had one lettuce wrap to make sure I had room for my HUGE salad I ordered for lunch.

I ordered the Mexican Tortilla Salad. It was HUGE, and so good. I ate about 3/4 of it.

After lunch I headed home, did a few things around the house before heading to a training for my summer position from 4pm-8pm. The training was great but it sort of dragged on. Maybe because I was hungry. Luckily when I got home I was greeted by a husband that had made dinner and poured me a glass of wine.

Grilled turkey tenderloin, grilled asparagus and garlicky brown rice and quinoa.

Though the weather is really crappy for running, it is perfect for drying laundry!

How has your last year been? Has id been a roller coaster like mine or has it bee smooth sailing? 

Tags: A year in review, cheesecake factory lettuce wraps, cheesecake factory salads, Drying laundry outside, garlicky quinoa and brown rice, grilled asparagus, grilled turkey tenderloin, Navy Tie Dye Dress, Third Blog Birthday, whole wheat waffles