Weekend Happenings

Oh man I just cannot make myself post on Fridays....Fridays = no motivation.  I'll catch you all up in no time though.  Last night my friend Sarah from high school came over and then we went out to dinner with Matt at a new place out by the mall called Bahama Breeze.  It's a chain but there aren't any other one's around us so it was exciting to go somewhere new. I looked at the menu ahead of time (as usual) so I knew exactly what I was going to order.

Crab, Shrimp, Mango and Avocado Stack.  I loved the presentation and it tasted just as good.

I also got a cup of the chicken tortilla soup which turned out to be my favorite part of the meal.

My night ended at 10:15 when I passed out. Real cool I know. I'm just resting up for Atlantic City next weekend!!

This morning I was determined to get to the gym.  The fact that I slept over nine hours last night gave me some extra energy to get out the door.  I started out with a weights workout including goblet squats, backward lunges, deadlifts, bench presses, dumbbell flies, and dips.  Then I moved on to some bosu ball abs work. 

I couldn't tell if I was in the mood to run or not, but I hopped on the treadmill anyways.  After a couple of miles I realized it would be a good run.  I started with 2 minutes of walking and 5 minutes of slow running for wam up and then I did intervals with 2 minutes jogging and 1 minute sprinting until I hit 4 miles.  My "jog pace" ranged from 6.2 to 6.4 and my sprints went up from 6.6 to 7.4 and back down.  On my way back down I also upped the incline to 1.0.  I finished 4 miles in 37.30.  Wheh I got home I was starving. Good thing half my lunch was already made.  My work had a meeting catered by panera yesterday and the leftovers were in the breakroom for us non important people later that day.  I ended up with a half mediterranean veggie sandwich.

I paird it with 1/3 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt with a couple scoops of pumpkin and apple butter mixed in for some extra protein.

YUM. Nice and filling. Now I'm just hanging out until Matt and I head to our hour long massage at 3:15!!!! I'm so excited. This is only my second massage ever so I hope I enjoy it (sometimes I get weird with people I don't know touching me).

Wedding Playlist

As I predicted, I decided to go for a short run today instead of going to the gym.  I just couldn't resist the sun.  I headed out after work around UD campus. My legs are still hurting a bit from my workout on Tuesday, so I wasn't feeling very fast, but it still felt great to get out and run. I attempted to take some pictures while I was running.  A lot of the blogs I read show the girls taking pictures while they are running, so I thought hey I'll give it a go.  Practice for the day when I finally run my first half marathon??  Let's hope.

I ran past my freshman year dorm.  It was a gorgeous dorm, but I only stayed for one semester because it was an all girls dorm.  I obviously did not choose to live in an all girls dorm...it's was pretty miserable actually.  Second semester of my freshman year, me and two of my friends moved to a coed dorm and were so happy we did.  Let's be honest, too many woman in one building is dangerous. 

Picture number two was not so good haha.  It kind of makes me dizzy.  It was supposed to be of the green. Such a gorgeous campus.  I'm glad I still live close and can take advantage of it. 

My big project over the past week has been working on our wedding playlist.  Our DJ wants us to give him as many songs as possible for him to play so he can get an idea of our taste.  I really want everyone to have a good time, so it's difficult to pick music that will entertain everyone from 10 to 70.  I'm just going for a good mix of oldies, 80's classics, current hits and more eclectic music.  Here's a small preview:

Oldies:

Neil Diamond Sweet Caroline (always a crowd pleaser)

Sister Sledge We Are Family

The Drifters Under The Boardwalk

Dixie Cups Chapel of Love

Elvis Presley All Shook Up

Little Eva The Locomotion

Anything by The Beatles, Billy Joel, The Beachboys

80s:

Bon Jovi Livin On A Prayer

Dexy's Midnight Runners Come On Eileen

Rick Springfield Jesse's Girl

The B-52's Love Shack

The Proclaimers I'm Gonna Be

The Clash London Calling

Anything By Queen b/c I'm Obsessed!!

Current Hits For the Youngins

(aka music I listen to when I workout)

Flo Rida Good Feeling

Black Eyed Peas I Got a Feeling

LMFAO Sexy And I Know It

Britney Spears I Wanna Go

Cee Lo Green Forget You

Jennifer Lopez On The Floor

Ladya Gaga The Edge Of Glory

Akon Bananza

Eclectic Music (Matt and My Favs)

Fun We Are Young

Gotye Somebody That I Used To Know

Adele Rumor Has It

Foster The People Helena Beat

The Black Keyes Lonely Boy

Cake Love You Madly

Franz Ferdianand Know You Girls

Muse Uprising

Young The Giant My Body

Neon Trees Everybody Talks

Foo Fighters These Days

Anything by Mumford and Sons, The Black Keys, Kings of Leon

I think he'll be able to get a good idea of what we like from that list?? I hope! As long as everyone is dancing I'll be happy.

Day of Rest

The backs of my legs and my butt are killing me from yesterdays workout.  I'm in need of a day of rest, and what better day than one that is full of rain and grey skies?  The weather this winter has been so crazy here in Delaware.  Today it has been pouring all day and it was in the 40s.  Tomorrow will be sunny and 62....this is not a normal February/March for the northeast.  I'm trying to decide if I want to run tomorrow since it will be so nice, or go to the gym and lift and run on the treadmill.

source

I love strength training and I'm so glad that I started doing it.  When I first started working out regularly in college I did as most do, I just hopped on a cardio machine and sweated it out.  I didn't want to get "big and bulky" afterall.  How did this rumor ever start??!!  Lifting heavy weights will not make you bulk up if you are a woman.  It's just not in our genes.  Lifting is especially important for runners becuase it can increase speed/endurance and help prevent injuries.  I love the difference I've seen in my arms especially since I've started lifting. I'll never go back to a cardio only gym experience! Even though I love weight training, I have a feeling I'm going to have to take advantage of this nice weather and go for a run around campus tomorrow! 

And Now What I Ate Wednesday:

Breakfast: Overnight Oats!

1 6oz container blueberry chobani, 1/4 cup oatmeal, splash of almond milk, chia seeds, and wheat germ topped with peanut butter, craisins and granolla

addicted I know

Lunch: Quinoa and Veggies. Apple on the side

In the mix 1/4 cup quinoa, black beans, brussel sprouts, asparagus, zucchini, carrots, craisins, slivered almonds and blue cheese mixed in

This was yum and it kept me full for a while at work.

Dinner: Leftover Chicken, Pasta and Spinach

leftovers heated up from last week

Bags of veggies on the side

I also had several snacks throughout the day.  Trail mix from wawa for my mid morning snack and a mix of pineapple and strawberries with cottage cheese for my nighttime snack. 



Gym Fail

I slept like a rock last night, and when the alarm went off at 5:45 this morning I really wished it was Saturday so I could sleep longer.  My work day went by pretty fast at least, and then I was off to the gym.  I obvioulsy wasn't fully with it this morning when I was packing my gym bag becuase I forgot a few things....2 very important things:

1. IPod
2. Sports Bra

I contemplated turning around and leaving, but I was that I had packed a long sleeved shirt as well as a tank top, so I figured if I wore both  nobody would be able to tell I wasn't wearing a bra right??? That's what I'll keep telling myself haha. I also decided to do more of a weights workout because I don't usually listen to my IPod when I lift, just during cardio.  I also figure out that there would be less bouncing during weight lifting.  I completed this abs and ars workout:

Then I moved on to a short arms workout with some bench presses, kickbacks and bicep curls.  Then it was time for the dreaded Ipodless, braless cardio workout.  I started with 15 minutes on the bike and then moved on to 15 minutes on the eliptical.  I must say that I hate working out in long sleeves unless I'm running outside. I just hate the feeling of my sweat making the shirt stick to me....yuck. I'm weird I know I have my OCD tendencies.  When I finished my workout I was glad to be done.  I headed home to make a quick dinner. Fish has been on sale at the grocery stores lately because of lent, so I got some Flounder to try.

Verdict?? Ehh it was ok.  Kind of bland.  I'm such a salmon snob after all.  I cooked a sweet potato in the microwave and had some veggies and hummus on the side.  A couple hours later I was hungry again so I tried something that I have been afraid of for a long time.  Cottage Cheese.  I have texture issues so I just always assumed I wouldn't like cottage cheese.   I gave it a go tonight and it wasn't bad.  I mixed it with some cut up pineapple and strawberries with a peice of dark chocolate on the side.  Perfect ending to the night. 

Would anyone else out there workout with no sports bra or am I just crazy??

Holy Wind

Today it was gorgeous outside, at least to the naked eye.   Weather.com said it was 58 degrees out so I thought what a perfect day for a run.  I went back to my parents house to walk the dogs and then went to the newark resevoir to run. Once you get to the top of one giant hill, the resevoir has a 1 mile track around it that is marked every 0.25 miles.  I wanted to time myself for 3 miles at race pace just to see where I was at. 

I walked up this hill for warm up and then started my run

I didn't realize this until I got to the top but it was really windy! I swear there is no wind at the bottom of this hill and then you get to the top and its like you are at the beach.  I ran my hardest through the wind and finished 3 miles in 25.45 (8.35 pace).  I think this was pretty good considering my fastest 5k time is 26.24.  I'm hoping to get sub 26 minutes for my next one.

Evidence that it was windy:

omg look at my hair hahah

When I got home I was hungry!  I had put together a turkey lasagna the night before and Matt put it in the oven so it was ready right when I got out of the shower. 

Lasanga with whole wheat noodles and turkey. YUM.  I love italian food way too much.

I made an impulse buy at the grocery store this past week.

These are sooooo good.  They taste just like banana bread. I'm kind of obsessed and may have finished an entire box in a week...oops.

I'm An Aunt Again!!

I woke up this morning to 4 text messages and 5 missed calls...oops.  It turns out my sister went into labor last night and gave birth to my neice Abri Kathryn around 5:30am.  This is number 3 for my sister and she had all three with no drugs....don't know how she did it.

Sleepy little girl

Giona and Mia will be such good big siblings.

Mia staying warm in her comfy sweater.

Giona getting ready to play in the snow.

Earlier today Matt and I went to the gym for our Sunday workout.  I did a legs and arms workout and then hopped on the treadmill to run 4 miles.  I started with a 5 minute warm up and then went form 6.0 to 7.2 in incriments of 0.2 staying at each for 2 minutes.  When I got to 7.2 I made my way back down to 6.4 and then did some incline work.  I got home and had my usual weekend lunch of eggs.  I cooked up some spinach and sun dried tomatoes and then added some egg whites and cheese.

On the side I had 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt and 1/4 cup pumpkin mixed with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice for some extra post workout protein.

For dinner I decided to treat Matt to steak since we haven't had it in....forever (sorry Matt).  On of the major reasons I don't cook steak in the winter is because I never cook it well.  The only way I really like steak is on the grill.  I attempted to broil it today and it took forever. I'm not sure if our broiler isn't as hot as other people's or what but it should have taken me 12 minutes to cook the london broil and it ended up taking me 30 minutes.  I was kind of pissed.  I might have yelled at the oven a few times.  Then I take the steak out and it's overcooked! I give up!

I'll let Matt handle the steak from now on. The best part about dinner were the potatoes.  I chopped up two potatoes adn mixed them in some olive oil.  Then I added a mixture of parmesean cheese, garlic powder and paprika to the potatoes and baked them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  They were soooooo good.  On the side were some veggies and hummus. 

I'm over at my parents house now dog sitting for the night.  They left around noon to go up to Pittsburgh for the night to meet the little one :)  Wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow.   I'm currently counting down until my bachelorette party (13 days) and the hour long massage that Matt and I have next weekend thanks to Groupon!!