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“He is so amazing”: The Time I Fell In Love With Adam All Over Again In 45 Minutes.

Apr 25th, 2012 by

Helloooooo! How are ya? Good? Niiiiicccee! My day was pretty good. Like I mentioned earlier, I woke up super early to blog. While writing my post this morning, I enjoyed a lovely breakfast. I had a whole wheat bagel thin with laughing cow, smoked salmon and capers. I am loving the smoked salmon lately and Trader Joe’s has it pretty cheap too.

I also had about two cups of coffee while getting ready for work and blogging.

Work today was a little different than usual. I actually brought a special guest with me. This guy….

The handsome Officer Adam came into school with me today as a guest speaker to talk with my “at risk” students. The point of his talk was to share his story about not being a great student, growing up in a tough neighborhood with friends that may not have been making the best chooses and making something of himself. He talked a lot about his job as a police officer and answered about 1 million questions. I will admit, I was a little nervous about him coming in. He has never really done anything like this before and I was not sure how my students would act or react. But, I had no reason to be nervous. As I sat there listening to Adam talk I had one of those rare moments where I thought things like, “He is so amazing.” “Wow! It is incredible how hard he has worked for all he has accomplished.” “I admire him” “What a resilient person!”. See, when you spent over 13 years with a person, they just become so normal to you that although you love them so much, you sometimes need to be reminded how amazing they are and why you fell in love with them. I fell in love with Adam all over again in those 45 minutes watching him interact with my students. It was incredible how engaged and interested they were. He truly is amazing. He is resilient, intelligent, patient, wise and real. I was in awe of him today. :)

Ok…enough with the sappy stuff! Moving on to lunch.  Lunch was about 2 cups of black bean soup and a salad of mixed greens, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, hard boiled egg and light italian dressing.

Snacks throughout the day:

When I got home from work, I went for a 4 mile run with Adam. My upper body was sore from two days of Crossfit, so I was really excited to be using my legs for the most part. My upper body is sore like it was when I first started Crossfitting a year and a half ago (Can you believe it has been that long?).  Adam and I did 4 miles in 39:38, a nice 10 minute mile pace.

Splits:

  • Mile 1- 10:02
  • Mile 2- 9:40
  • Mile 3- 9:37
  • Mile 4- 10:17

The first and last miles were run on a really busy street so there was a lot of dodging people.

Today’s outfit:

Cuffed matchstick jeans (JCrew), Navy polka dotted blouse (JCrew), Navy cardigan (JCrew), Yellow flats (Forever 21)

Well, I am off to my monthly family Girl’s Night Out with my mom, aunts and cousins. See ya soon! :)

Twitt

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For The Very Last Time…

Apr 25th, 2012 by

Good Morning! I hope your week is chugging along. My day was so busy yesterday I didn’t have a second to blog so I am up early writing a post and watching the sun come up from my home office window. It’s lovely!

Yesterday was one of those days where at 11:30am I looked down and realized I still hadn’t put on my “real” shoes yet and my day was halfway over. I actually love that my job can be that busy though. Luckily, I was well fueled for my crazy morning! For breakfast I had two brown rice cakes topped with creamy natural peanut butter and 1/2 of a banana sliced with coffee.

Lunch was the last bit of leftovers from the night before, which was mostly broccoli and marinara. I also had a small salad of mixed greens, yellow bell peppers, cucumbers and a hard-boiled egg topped with light italian dressing.

My snacks throughout the day were grapes, light string cheese and a sliced orange.

After work I headed straight to FFF Mom and FF Dad’s house. I had to give a presentation in class last night about the guidance blog that I helped create at work. I did a little guide through our pages, links and widgets followed by a how-to for the other students in my class to create their own blog for their future guidance departments. I needed to use my mom and dad’s printer to complete the project. Of course it was super stressful because the printer jammed and my mom and I couldn’t fix it for a while and it took forever and a day to actually print. But I did manage to get it done. I raced home to organize it and change for a 5:30 pm Crossfit class. While heading out the door to class I snacked on a brown rice cake topped with hummus and sipped about 8 ounces Honest Tea mint green tea.

(Adam’s super tempting pizza pictured in the background. I’m pretty sure I would have regretted pizza as a pre-crossfit class)

I arrived at Crossfit feeling stressed and rushed. When I pulled into the parking lot I saw my class headed to the field. I thought, “CRAP! I’m so late!” Luckily, Lisa is a doll and brought me out an ab mat and said we could share her kettle bell. Workout buddies seriously rock!

The first workout was tough but awesome. It looked like this:

  • 15 seconds of squats
  • 15 second plank hold
  • 15 seconds of kettle bell swings
  • 15 seconds of sumo deadlift high pulls
  • 30 seconds of rest
  • 30 seconds of squats
  • 30 second plank hold
  • 30 seconds of kettle bell swings
  • 30 seconds of sumo deadlift high pulls
  • 30 seconds of rest
  • 45 seconds of squats
  • 45 second plank hold
  • 45 seconds of kettle bell swings
  • 45 seconds of sumo deadlift high pulls
  • 30 seconds of rest
  • 60 seconds of squats
  • 60 second plank hold
  • 60 seconds of kettle bell swings
  • 60 seconds of sumo deadlift high pulls
  • 30 seconds of rest
  • 45 seconds of squats
  • 45 second plank hold
  • 45 seconds of kettle bell swings
  • 45 seconds of sumo deadlift high pulls
  • 30 seconds of rest
  • 30 seconds of squats
  • 30 second plank hold
  • 30 seconds of kettle bell swings
  • 30 seconds of sumo deadlift high pulls
  • 30 seconds of rest
  • 15 seconds of squats
  • 15 second plank hold
  • 15 seconds of kettle bell swings
  • 15 seconds of sumo deadlift high pulls
  • 30 seconds of rest

Sounds challenging, right? But that is not all! Next we did two rounds of this:

  • 400 meter run
  • 30 ab mat sit-ups
  • 20 burppes
  • 10 goblet squats

After Crossfit I drove to class. This was not just any class. Last night was my very last time going to class as a master’s level graduate student (I say that because I will be a life long learner and will end up with a master’s and a whole bunch of other credits, maybe a CAGS degree, by the end of my career). I could not believe that after 3 and a half years of working full-time and attending classes at night that I was finally going to class for the very last time! It has been a long challenging road and I so glad to be done. I still have a final reflection paper, meeting with my program director and having my program director observe me teach a guidance lesson- then I am officially done! I graduate in 3 weeks! It is bitter-sweet. As a part-time graduate student I have been in the program for so long and I almost don’t remember what it was like to not be a graduate student. I am so happy to be done, but I will really miss classmates and faculty.

Our program director bought us all pizza for out last class. I had two slices of pepper and onion.

 

After class, I was pooped from my busy day. I came home, showered, read a little in bed and then promptly passed out! ZZZZZZZZ!

Are the endings of things bitter sweet for you as well? Do you have a hard time saying “goodbye”? 

Twitt

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I’ll Never Be The Girl Who…

Apr 24th, 2012 by

Hello and happy Monday! I hope your weeks is off to a good start! Mine day was not the greatest to begin with but it ended well. I got up at 5:30 am because I had a 6:30 meeting at work. I am not going to lie, getting out of bed while it was pouring rain outside was hard. I actually have this issue when I need to get up earlier than normal where I have anxiety that I will sleep through my alarm clock and as a results, I wake up about every hour. I have never once slept through my alarm clock but I always fear that I will. I had to drag my butt out of bed this morning and was so slow-moving. I consider myself a morning person in a lot of ways, but I will never be that girl that can get up all chipper after 5 or less hours of sleep…never!

Breakfast was a green smoothie and a mug of coffee. I needed all the energy I could get. My camera ate the photo of breakfast. The was a blend of: banana, fat-free milk, OJ, frozen mixed berries, flax seeds, spinach, vanilla protein power and ice. It was pretty great!

My snacks for the day where apple slices, about an ounce of reduced fat cheddar and a handful of almonds.

My lunch was a chicken salad wrap made from leftover chicken from last night. I mixed some chopped chicken, vegan “mayo” and spicy mustard and topped it with mixed greens on a whole wheat and flax wrap.

I had the wrap with leftover roasted sugar snap peas from dinner last night. I love putting leftovers to good use :)

Today’s Outfit:

Black and gray floral dress (H&M), Black blazer (Jacob), Black tights (Target), Black flats (Tory Burch).

When I left work I was pretty tired. I ran a few errands and then curled up on the couch to read for a few hours. I also created my workout and dinner schedule for the week. I like to plan out my dinners to keep me motivated to actually cook and not order out. We spent far to much eating out last week since I was on vacation.

Around 5 pm, I had a brown rice cake topped with hummus and salsa as a pre-workout snack. I am loving this as a pre-workout snack and it really helped me power through more than the other snacks I have been trying out. I think the mix of complex carbs and protein is a huge plus. Sometimes the bars I eat when pre-workout cause a sugar crash.

I was feeling sleepy and knew I needed a caffeine pick me up before Crossfit. But I learned my lesson when drinking coffee right before hitting the gym. Instead I had about 8 ounces of Honest Tea Mint Green Tea.

It helped a bunch! It got me through this tough workout!

Warm up:

  • 10 pass throughs
  • 10 air squats
  • 10 light kettlebell swings (12 kg)

Strength CON

  • 5 sets of 5 Snatches (35 pound bar)
  • 5 sets of 10 dead man sit-ups with a 10 pound weight plate

METCON- 15 minutes

  • 3 pull-ups
  • 6 lunges with a 25 pound weight plate overhead
  • 12 triple extension jumps
  • 6 pull-ups
  • 12 lunges with a 25 pound weight plate overhead
  • 24 triple extension jumps
  • 12 pull-ups
  • 24  lunges with a 25 pound weight plate overhead
  • 48 triple extension jumps
  • 24 pull-ups
  • 48 lunges with a 25 pound weight plate overhead
  • 96 triple extension jumps

TOTALS: 45 pull-ups (assisted with a medium band), 90 lunges,  180 triple extension jumps

Cash Out:

Tabata of 14 kg kettle bell swings and ab mat sit-ups. (8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of work)

Plank hold- I lasted 1 minute and 30 seconds. I was BEAT by that point. This workout was KILLER! Here was not a dry spot on my clothing. I was so exhausted by the end and I felt so much better since my days wasn’t so great!

I got home and whipped up a quick dinner of chicken sausage, broccoli, whole wheat gnocchi and marinara.

I was craving pasta all day so this hit the spot, especially after a tough workout.

Oh- did I mention I almost knocked my tooth out today?! I didn’t, oh weird! I actually walked into my basement door. I was trying to bring the mop down to Adam so he could wash our basement floor and I walked right into the door and smacked my face off of it.It resulted in my gums bleeding, my tooth feeling loose and a beautiful fat lip!

Apparently clumsiness is the the poor girl’s alternative to lip injections! Awesome! I will never be graceful…I am okay with that. Since I had two realizations today of the girl I will never be- perky early in the morning after 5 hours of sleep or graceful, here are a few other things the I will never be…

I will never be the girl who….can hide how she feels.

I’ll never be the girl who…can drink champagne without getting silly.

I’ll never be the girl who…can keep it together when someone trips and falls.

I’ll never be the girl who…has perfect hair.

I’ll never be the girl who…knows when enough is enough (especially with carnival games).

I’ll never be the girl who…acts appropriately in public.

I’ll never the the girl who…takes attractive race photos.

I’ll never be the girl who…can control her sweet moves when her song comes on.

I’ll never be the girl who…can take part in water sports without utterly panicking.

And I am okay with it!

Now your turn! Complete this sentence “I’ll never be the girl/guy who…”

Twitt

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Auntie’s Girl

Apr 23rd, 2012 by

Hello! How are you?! I am doing well. I had kind of a hectic weekend. My poor 4 month old niece had to have an emergency surgery. I spent some time this weekend at the hospital visiting her. Poor girlie!

She is doing well and hopefully will be feeling a whole lot better post-surgery. She is such a cheerful little girl. She was so happy even though she was hooked up to IV’s and couldn’t eat normally. Seeing here hooked up to machines and in here little baby medical gown was difficult, but I was happy to see her face light up when I walked into her room. Sophia is such a little trooper. She melts my heart every time. I love the way she always holds my finger. Auntie’s girl :)

This morning I woke up shocked that the vacation week was coming to an end. I got up early to make the most of the day. Breakfast was a whole wheat bagel thin with laughing cow cheese, smoked salmon, capers and black pepper.

I ate breakfast while watching a few episodes of Sex and the City. That show never gets old…never. :) Around 11am I met Lisa and Kristen for coffee. I got a large medium roast with half and half and sipped it while chatting with the girls.

I ran a few errands before making a quick lunch for myself. I mixed together tuna, vegan “mayo”, spicy mustard and diced sour pickles to make my perfect version of “tuna salad”.  I enjoyed it on whole wheat bread with a sliced orange.

I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on some reading I had been struggling to find the time for. Look at all these magazine that I had stacking up!

Since I read magazines cover to cover. I only got through two of them. I am hoping to find more time to just sit in read in the near future. I really enjoyed my afternoon curled up on the sofa with Oscar listening to the rain and reading. I need to make time to do that more.

I decided to make a nice dinner for Adam tonight since he has been working insane hours. He worked 40 hours in the last 72 hours. I felt like I hadn’t seen him in so long and it was nice to spend the night together enjoying delicious food, good wine and each other’s company.  We started off with some cheap  Pinot Noir I got at Trader Joe’s yesterday.

I am not eve going to pretend I didn’t buy this wine because I liked the label. It ended up being pretty good. We each had two glasses over the course of the night. We sipped wine while snacking on a fruit and cheese plate as an appetizer and watching the Bruins game (Go B’s!).

We had sliced apples, purple grapes, brie, sharp cheddar, wheat-free flax and sesame crackers, water crackers and Kashi wheat crackers. It was a great appetizer but we barely put a dent in it. We have tons leftover for a later date. :)

For dinner I made some baked, stuffed chicken breasts stuffed with feta and olives. I got it all stuffed and ready to cook from Trader Joe’s. I put them in a shallow baking pan and baked them covered in foil for 20 minutes at 350. Then uncovered the chicken and cooked it for another 20 minutes.

 

On a cookie sheet I mixed some sugar snap peas with cooking spray, sea salt, crushed black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic and dried basil and baked with at 350 for 40 minutes.

The chicken came out perfect!

 

The chicken breasts were huge so Adam and I split one and saved the other one for dinner later this week. I love when I can get two or three meals out of one purchase.

Chicken, roasted sugar snap peas and asparagus risotto. Such an amazing Sunday dinner.

Well, my April vacation is over. My 6:30 am meeting at work tomorrow makes that perfectly clear! I had a nice week though so I can’t complain. I gotta get my clothes and food ready for tomorrow so I can get my booty out the door by 6:10. See you tomorrow.

How was your weekend?

PS- Check out my new article for Coffee With Caesar about the pioneers in women’s long distance running! I think you guys will enjoy it.

Twitt

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Busy Break

Apr 18th, 2012 by

Hey everyone! I hope you week is going well! Mine is good :) I had some issues with my DSLR camera this week and then it just kind of died. It is currently being revived by a camera specialist, so I am working with my point and shoot. I have had a nice week so far, mostly because I am on April vacation from work. That doesn’t mean I get to just relax. I have been running, crossfitting, writing, doing housework and running errands. It’s nice to have time to get things done.

This chalkboard in my home office is certainly coming in handy.  :)

This morning I slept in until 8:45 am, it felt so good to not wake up to an alarm clock. Oscar and I walked to my favorite coffee shop  and I got a large iced coffee with half and half. When we arrived home I fed Oscar and myself. Oscar got kibble (which he ate one piece at a time), I got the much taster egg, low fat cheese and turkey bacon sandwich on a whole wheat bagel thin.

I spent the late morning and early afternoon working on a few things for Coffee with Caesar and doing laundry. Um…a lot of laundry! All folded, I just need to put it all away. Isn’t that the absolute worst part of doing laundry?

Around 1pm, I walked to pick up my favorite wrap. Veggies and hummus on whole wheat. I enjoyed it with a side of popchips that I had in my pantry.

After lunch to got ready for a job interview. I am looking for some summer employment since I work in a school and will be done June 15th. This is actually my second interview, so fingers crossed! It is an awesome position where I think I will learn a ton and help a lot of kids. I think it actually went really well…time will tell :)

Interview outfit:

Gray pencil skirt (Michael Kors), blue and black plaid blouse (GAP), Black cardigan (Jacob), black suede pointy pumps (Michael Kors).

After the interview I changed in to much more comfortable workout clothes and did about an hour of work on my computer before heading to Crossfit. While on the way to the gym I snacked on a few bites of an energy bar.

The workout at Crossfit tonight was tough, but actually really fun!

Warmup:

3 rounds-

  • 15 jumping jacks
  • 10 air squats
  • 3 inchworm push ups
  • 10 pass throughs

First workout:

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes:

  • 2 rope climbs (I almost have my rope climb- it’s getting there)
  • 10 ring dips (I did them assessed with a light band)
  • 20 wall ball shots (14 pound ball)

I ended up completing almost 5 rounds.

Second workout: 

40 reps, 30 reps, 20 reps, 10 reps, 5 reps

  • lunges
  • ab mat sit-ups
  • pushups (on my knees)

Yes, you counted right! That is 105 lunges, 105 sit ups and 105 push-ups. This workout took me 12:40. I was pretty pleased with my time, my goal was to just keep moving. I was beat after but felt awesome! I know I am going to be sore tomorrow! I found that the best tactic to get me through the workout was to split everything in to sets of 10 mentally. It just helped me keep track and keep motivated.

Dinner tonight was a perfect mix of veggies, complex carbs and lean protein. I had whole grain tortellinis with organic broccoli and shrimp topped with marinara and grated cheese. I love keeping frozen shrimp in my freezer. It is great to just pull out and defrost for a lean protein in a snap. I just put the shrimp in a colander and run cold water over it for about 8 minutes. It is great with pasta, on pizza, on a salad or in a stir-fry. It is certainly a staple of mine.

 

Desert was a few squares of this chocolate that Adam bought for me last week.

Delicious!

Ok, I have gotta get going. I am meeting three of my girlfriends for a movie night! Have a great evening!

What is one staple in your freezer and what is your favorite way to use it? 

Twitt

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Great Runs In Boston

Apr 18th, 2012 by

This past week I got the opportunity to chat with author Mark Lowenstein about one of his new books, Great Runs Boston.

Mark considers himself to be a recreational runner, like most of us. He is also really into hiking and biking. He noticed that there were so many guides available for hikers and bikers to find great trails for their next outing but nothing like that existed for runners. Mark said that orientation of this book is to get runners familiar with new routes. Trying out new routes not only adds variety to your workouts but it can make you faster and adds a new energy to your run. As runners we are creatures of habit, so changing up the routes is tough without any guidance. I can totally identify with that notion, my runs are usually variations of the same route. I just add or subtract to the route depending on my distance needs. Can you believe I used basically the same route to train for my marathon from 3-20 miles? I am SO stuck in my ways with regards to running routes so I was super excited to receive a copy of Mark’s book.

The book includes 30-40 different routes ranging from 3 to 13 miles with options to add even more distance as needed. There are also themed runs if you prefer to see green or water when you run or maybe if you prefer an urban run or off-road route. Mark spoke about how his ideal route depends on his mood and how knowing several different routes helps him to cater to that. He even informed me of routes that are so close to my house that I had no idea about- so cool! The book overs a ton of newer, less-discovered routes in Boston such as routes in Charlestown and East Boston.

The route information in Great Runs looks like this:

Here are the cool features that I found helpful:

  • Each route has a fun name.
  • You are provided with a map.
  • You also get info about terrain (flat, hilly, on-road, off-road etc.), where the bathroom are located along the route, where you can get water, sites you will see as you run on that particular route, parking and public transit information.
  • A little history about the route is given in the “overview”.
  • There are suggestions on how to make a particular route longer or shorter.
  • You get turn by turn directions with the milages listed next to it.

I am loving sharing this book with my runner friends and am excited to share it with FFF readers! I am hoping to use these routes during my upcoming half marathon training. It will be nice to have a change of scenery for the longer, weekend runs especially!

This book also comes in the Boston version, which I have but also a version for Brookline and a version for the Suburbs of Boston. You can check those out on Mark’s website!

Okay, time for this girl to Crossfit! See you all soon :)

 

 

Twitt

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Love, Oscar: A Letter From My Dog

Apr 11th, 2012 by

In honor of Nation Pet Day! Here is a letter written to me in the voice of Oscar. Enjoy!

Hi Momma,

It’s me, Oscar! I have heard you mention several times to your friends that you wish I could talk for a day and you wonder what I would say. Yes, I understand English very well. I know more than simply “Go Walkin’’ “Kibble” “Good Boy” “Ride in the Car” and “Puporoni”. Well, here is my letter to you. Enjoy!

Stop telling me “No”. We both know you don’t mean it. Even though you don’t want me eating bones on the new sofa or ripping apart toys on the bed, I will do it anyways and you will secretly think it is cute. So, let’s cut the sh*t with that, huh?

I hate it when you blow in my face. I have always hated it. I will always hate it. And thanks for teaching all of your friends to do it. Whenever I hear you say, “Want to see Oscar freak out?” I know it is coming! I know you are doing it because you think it is funny. I don’t.  That’s why I glare at you. I wish I could blow in your face when you are trying to sleep and see how you like it!

I know you think it is so cute how I eat one piece of kibble at a time. I do that because kibble sucks. Do you think I like eating Beneful one kibble at a time while you and dad are feasting on pizza and chicken? Come on woman, get ahold of yourself!  Don’t worry though, your parents tell you they never give me table food while they are watching me during the day. They are liars; I just finished a ham sandwich and a bag of chips. Winning!

STOP telling me I have “doggie breath.” I’m a dog! Have you smelled your own breath lately? Lay off the onions, homegirl!

Just because you like to run doesn’t mean I have to! That doggie 5k that you forced me into, never again.  I ran that thing in 42 minutes with 2 inch legs because some psycho kept yelling “We don’t walk in this family, Oscar. Get moving”. Yeah, I’m looking at you, mom!

And what’s with the new “Oscar gets put in a cage when we go out” rule? One time. I destroyed the bathroom door while you were out, one time. One time, and now there’s this hard and fast rule. I panicked!  You left me for a month! Or was it an hour? Or was it 5 minutes? Come one, you know I have no way to knowing, I panicked! I am sorry! Also, can I get a toy in there with me for some company, jeez?!

Every time you come home smelling like another dog, it really hurts my feelings.

By the way: “Oscar” is a human name. Remember that time that lady in the park kept calling her son named “Oscar” and I kept running over to her. I saw you and Auntie Jill laughing your butts off, that wasn’t funny.  I think I have earned a puparoni for each time I went running over to her like a fool.

Speaking of “Aunties”: how in the hell do I have so many Aunties when I know you don’t have any sisters? Auntie Belle, Auntie Lisa, Auntie Melissa, Auntie May, Auntie Kristen, Auntie Ashley…come on!  You know they are all my girlfriends. Do you see the way they look at me? I am a total ladies’ man!

I apologize for my silently but deadly farts in the middle of the night. Ok, now your turn.

Ok, now that I got all of that off my chest, I have a few other things I need to day:

I love you! Thank you for always picking me up and hugging me when Dad yells at me, even when I deserve it. Thanks for sharing your pillow with me at night and cuddling with me, you know I am scared of the dark. I know it is annoying when I obsessively lick my paws, I just can’t help it.

I will never forget seeing your smiling face the very first time I opened my eyes (oh, by the way you have ages a lot in the past 6 years. Sorry, but it’s true). As much as it confuses the crap out of me, I do love that you have a whole slew of nicknames for me: Oscey, Dragon, Mr. Little, Dooby Dog, Fuzzy Butt, Jingle Toes, Pupalicious.

That time when I was really sick as a puppy, I know my treatment costs a pretty penny and you were just a broke recent college graduate. Thanks for sacrificing so much to save my life.  And for visiting me in the dog hospital everyday while I was sick. I made me feel so much less scared to know you where there. I do, however, resent the nickname “Million Dollar Dog” that I earned after you paid that bill!

Sorry I was such a pain to house train. Boy, are you guys persistent, huh? I thought I was stubborn, but I guess you and dad won that war. Aside from the times I pee on your pillow or poop in your new slippers to get you back when I get upset with you. I’m vindictive. My bad.

Anyhow, I wanted to tell you that I love you so much. No matter what you do, who you piss off, how much you screw up in life, I always think you are the best thing on two legs. You are my entire world. I am always on your side. I know when you are sad or happy, I can sense it. You are my best friend!

Love, Oscar

PS- After to read this you may find a mess in your bedroom of chewed up socks, underwear and dog toys. Before you go to yell at me, reread this letter to familiarize yourself with how loving and witty I am. If that doesn’t work, here is my cutest picture!

Twitt

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My Heroic Return…

Apr 11th, 2012 by

Hello everyone! Well, my busiest day of the week is coming to a close. I just got out of class and I literally have one more day of class left in my graduate school career! Can you even believe that?! I just have to go to class one more time and then I am DONE! It is such an exciting feeling!!!

Breakfast this morning was a green monster smoothie and a cup of coffee, both to go. The smoothie was a blended mix of:

  • banana
  • spinach
  • orange juice
  • almond milk
  • frozen mixed berries
  • vanilla protein powder

Lunch was a salad of leftovers. I love using leftovers to make a salad. It keeps be from getting bored with the same old thing all the time. This salad had lettuce, leftover artichoke hearts, tomatoes, celery, leftover rice and quinoa from last night, a cut up leftover turkey burger and feta topped with lite Italian dressing.

 

I brought two snacks with me today, but I only ate my morning snack of a fuji apple and come babybel cheese. The Larabar is in my desk drawer. It will certainly come in handy at some point.

Today’s outfit was a little on the hippie chic side (yes, I am going to be actually writing about fashion again). Truth be told this is my go-to “I am running late” outfit. It requires minimal planning and never needs to be ironed.

 

Floral sheer dress with a navy blue slip (Old Navy), Navy Cardigan (JCrew), Brown tights (Target), Brown riding boots (Anne Klein).

I love the print on this dress, it goes with so many colors and is perfect for all seasons.

My riding boots get a TON of wear. I was thinking about dropping them off to get cleaned and polished this past weekend, but I kind of love the worn look they have. It gives them character.

After work, I headed home super excited! Why, you ask? I was making my heroic return to Crossfit. I have not been to Crossfit since New Year’s Eve because of my injury and it felt like an eternity! I was so excited to put on my Nike Frees again and get my butt to Crossfit!!!

The workout was awesome, but exhausting. I loved seeing all of my Crossfit pals and catching up with them. I got there 15 minutes early just to allow for time for that :) . The workout looked like this:

4 rounds of:

  • 1 minute of as many push-ups (on my knees) as I can get in
  • 20 seconds of rest
  • 1 minute of as many kettlebell swings (14 kg.)as I can get in
  • 20 second of rest
  • 1 minute plank
  • 20 seconds of rest
  • 1 minute of jumping rope
  • 20 seconds of rest
  • 1 minute of box jumps
  • Sprint a lap around the track

After doing 4 rounds of that, I felt awesome but exhausted!!! I am so glad to be back to Crossfit. I love how the workouts keep me constantly moving and keep me for feeling bored at all. I missed Crossfit so much- the workouts, the felling, the community. I’m so glad to feel at home again!

After Crossfit, I headed into class. I packed a sort of strange, high protein dinner for recovery to eat on the way to class. I had some leftover grilled chicken.

I also had some leftover smoothie from the huge batch I made this morning and a cherry chocolate Larabar.

I tend to have a problem with punctuality. I can never get it together to get to class on time. Today I was so excited to show up early! When I got to the conference room where my class is held no one was there. I waited and waited and then a classmate, whom is also always late, came in and we figured out that the professor told us last week that our class was actually going to start at 7:30 pm this week instead of 7pm. Figures the one day I can actually on time….

That was our cue to get coffee. :) I got a small french vanilla hot coffee with just cream. I knew if I got a bigger size I would be up allllllll night. It was perfect class fuel!

In Other News: 

My lovely ulcer is back! I went to the doctor last week and it was confirmed. They ran a few tests to see what exactly is causing it, but I am waiting on results. But until then I am on prilosec twice a day to manage it. It has been helping a bunch!

So now I am taking:

  • Calcium twice a day
  • Multivitamin
  • Iron (650 mg) twice a day
  • Prilosec twice a day

It’s a lot and certain things can’t be taken at the same time as other things. I have to get myself into a pretty steady routine. I think today I finally got it down.

Do you take any supplements? 

Twitt

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Green Smoothies with Caesar?!

Apr 10th, 2012 by

Hello! How is it Monday already? Someone please explain this to me! I woke up this morning grateful for a weekend filled with family and friends, but a little tired from how busy and fun my weekend was. My sleepiness meant I had a very simple breakfast- Kashi GoLean Crunch with organic fat-free milk and a banana. Old standby!

Also, coffee to go! I love these reusable mugs! They are the perfect size and are dishwasher safe. I think the worst thing about reusable coffee mugs is that they are usually a pain in the butt to clean. I got two of these that I switch out during the work week and being able to take coffee to go and then just throw the mug in the dishwasher has been a life saver.

Lunch today was eaten super fast. I had another busy day at work. I actually love when my day is busy. I am very fortunate to love my job (that was not always the case, I have had jobs that I hated), so the when I am busy I am actually really love it. I had some veggie barley soup that I got a Costco last week with Kashi crackers, laughing cow cheese and an apple.

I had two snacks today throughout the day too. I had some cocoa almonds around 9:30am and some celery with hummus around 2:15pm.

After work I headed home to meet Adam for a run. :) I am so glad to be able to run again. I ordered new running shoes from Amazon.com on Friday and I kid you not when I say that they were at my door first thing Saturday morning! Seriously! I ordered them at 2pm on Friday and at 10am on Saturday they were at my door. Way to go, Amazon! They constantly impress me.  I ordered another pair of the Men’s Brooks Adrenaline 11. Yes, you read that right…I run in men’s shoes. When I run distance, and I plan on using these sneakers to train for a half marathon next month, my feel swell. They swell so much that the toe box in most woman’s running shoes is too narrow and I get really bad blisters. My feet are sensitive. Luckily, the men’s runners are usually wider. The only downside is they usually look like men’s shoes and I have to sacrifice have cute running shoes. I am fine with that since I have about 100 pairs of cute regular shoes. However, I was super excited to see that the Brooks Adrenaline 11 actually come in fun colors.

Enter the Green Machines!

I am a dork and I name my running shoes. My last pair was the Red Racers. Laugh if you will. I am loving the lime green and gray motif here. Killin’ it!

Adam and I ran 3.2 miles in 29:51

 

Splits:

  • Mile 1- 9:12
  • Mile 2- 9:29
  • Mile 3- 9:17
  • .2 miles- 1:51

I am actually pretty surprised at how I can maintain the same speed with which I trained for my marathon since I was unable to run due to injury for 4 months. I am actually pretty impressed with how easily I am gaining speed too. I am so glad I stuck with that elliptical all those weeks even though I hated it. It is making my return to running much smoother and so much more enjoyable. I am confident that I will be half marathon ready at the end of May for my favorite race of the year.

After the run Adam and I cooked dinner together. We made “fried” chicken.  It is actually baked chicken coated with egg whites, whole wheat bread crumbs and reduced fat grated cheese but it tastes so awesome that you would think it is fried chicken. On the side I had some leftover carrots, green beans and asparagus from Easter dinner and some garlicy brown rice and black quinoa.

For dessert I had a few squares of Lindt Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt that the Easter Bunny brought me ;)

In Other News: 

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I am working on a new project! You may notice the Coffee With Caesar Logo on my sidebar. If you have been a reader for a while you may have seen me refer to Coffee With Caesar. It was originally created by my friend Jack, but over the last few weeks he took on myself and another writer Stephanie, who is fabulous, as partners! Coffee With Caesar is an online magazine that uses videos and uniquely written analysis about current issues with a philosophical bent. I will be writing on CWC in addition to Food, Fitness, Fashion. The articles you can expect to see from me will mostly likely be a little different than what you read here on FFF since it is not journal style. But I am really hoping to share my opinions on various topics that you do see and enjoy here on FFF like health, education, fitness, social media, fashion, music and self-esteem (maybe we should have named it Green Smoothies with Caesar?! ;) )I would love it if you checked out some of my CWC articles as time goes on. It is certainly a way to connect, have addition conversation and get to know each other better.

Check out my first article for CWC called Is Generation Y Suffering From A Self-Esteem Overdose?  Feel free to add into the conversation on CWC regarding this topic, I would love to know your thoughts on it! Also, please “Like” us on FB and/or Follow Us on Twitter.

What topics would you like to see me touch on on either CWC or FFF? 

Twitt

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SoundBites

Apr 6th, 2012 by

Hello and Happy Friday! How are you all doing? I have had a great day so far! I slept in until about 9 am…glorious! I love not waking up to an alarm clock. Adam has the the day off too, which happens pretty rarely. We started our morning off with a run (wooooo hooooo)! This time we went a little longer and ran one of my very favorite 3 mile routes through the downtown Boston area. I missed all my routes :)

After the run, we showered, got dressed and headed out to brunch at my very favorite breakfast place. Soundbites is just awesome! They have a huge and really creative menu. There is something for everyone and every time I go I get something different. They also have the best home-fries. They are more like mashed potatoes and are called “no place like home-fries”.  Adam and I each had one mimosa while looking over them menu.

For my brunch I ordered a scallion, tomato, feta and green olive egg white omelet. It came with whole wheat toast with no place like home-fries.

I had a side of veggie sausage. They make their own veggie sausage and it is the best I have ever had.

I’m spending the day working on some writing and hanging out with friends. See ya soon :)

Twitt

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