Three things and a winner

Whenever I do a three thing Thursday list, it always ends up being more. Oh well.

1. did I ever mention that when I chew gum my Long Island accent comes back?

2. this weekend I plan to go out for drinks with my girls, eat pizza at Ralph's, get a mani/pedi at Babi Nails, run on the beach, and hang with my family.

3. and remember those who have died serving our country.

4. and thank you for all the great comments on my sobfest post......

5. and thanks to everyone who entered the Bondi Band giveaway! Random.org picked the winner, and it is Paige at Two Runners and a Brown Dog! Congrats Paige, email me you address and I'll get it right out.

I have two more giveaways coming up, so stay tuned!

Home is where some of my heart is

I've been feeling a bit off this past week. The littlest things are making me tear up. I cried at the end of LOST (which I probably would have anyway) and I cried really hard at the end of the Biggest Loser, like Terms of Endearment type crying. (I didn't see the marathon episode until Saturday afternoon, because it was pre-empted on Tuesday by the Yankee/Red Sox game). Last night when Mike got home he looked at me and asked what was up, and I told him nothing is up. Then half a glass of wine later, I'm blubbering on the phone to one of my BFF's about a whole bunch of things.

I guess I'm more upset about my Mom selling her house than I realized. We're going to Long Island this weekend for one last trip home before she closes. 32 years in that house, there is a lot to say goodbye to.

It's also saying goodbye not to just a house, but to that whole area, and the friends and family that are still there. Yes we can visit, but the visits will probably be fewer.

Those Stay At Home Mom vs. Working feelings have been popping up again, pretty strongly. I love being home with the kids. But it's getting to the point now that they're older that I need something for myself. I think I'm ready to go back to work. Which doesn't scare me, but kind of does.

I'm feeling better after the crying jag, and Mike worked from home today and surprised me by saying I could run outside while he watched Luke (4.3 miles, 39:25 pace. I'm going to keep boring you with stats). Then a little retail therapy was in order, so after Luke went to school, and I picked Eliza up from school, we hit the mall. Where I bought Nuun, Sportsbeans and Clif Shots at EMS and took E for a spin on the Carousel. Then in Barnes & Noble, I immediately spied a new release by one of my favorite Chick Lit authors, which is exactly what is in order for this Holiday weekend.

Now if you're still reading.....don't forget the Bondi Band giveaway.....it ends Wednesday at midnight.

Scary Food

It's no secret that I enjoy and appreciate food. Good food, and what I like to call splurge food. I think everyone has the right to choose what they put in their body, I'm not the food police and never will be. But I've seen some food options recently so over the top bad that I just had to blog about it.

Case number one. Per Luke's request, we took him to a restaurant chain for dinner for his birthday. For the record, the kids had cheeseburger sliders, fries, apple slices and ice cream. Mike and I split a cheeseburger deluxe, and ate whatever ice cream was left in the kid's dishes. While we were waiting for the food, I looked over the breakfast menu, expecting to see the usual breakfast combos. Instead, the choices were better suited for a dessert menu. Chocolate, chocolate chip pancakes, topped with chocolate ice cream. Pancakes with layers of strawberry ice cream, topped with strawberry syrup/preserves, and whipped cream. Yikes. My teeth hurt just looking at it.

A few days later, I caught a commercial for what I'll call a breakfast pastry. Never been a fan, one of my roommates in college used to gross me out because she would eat them raw. Their newest serving suggestion is to use them to make ice cream sandwiches. Huh???

Yesterday Mike was going through the coupons in the Sunday paper, and he showed me one for thickly sliced cheese toast. Their suggestion is to use the toast instead of hamburger buns. Those things have seven grams of fat per slice. I know this because I made a breakfast casserole for Christmas morning a couple of years ago, with the toast, along with eggs, cheese, and sausage. Something sinful that you have once a year on like, Christmas. I just can't imagine pairing those things up with a burger that already has enough fat.

I know it's all marketing, but it still bugs me. Okay, my rant is over. Just something to think about I guess.

Rollin' Along

It's been another good week fitness wise, I feel like I have a pretty good schedule figured out, which takes the guess work out of my days. Most of my runs were on the treadmill, and yesterday was another yoga day, but today I got to run a new route outside with my running group.

The weather is finally nice enough to feel as if winter is truly behind us, this morning we did seven miles in a part of town that was new to me, which is a nice change. I feel like I've claimed Saturday mornings for running. I ran Saturday's all through the winter with the group, and I plan on keeping it up, and do my longest run of the week on Saturdays. That way I don't have to worry during the week about Mike getting home from work on time for me to head out, or to get up earlier than usual to fit it in before he leaves. I think it's good all around, while I'm out running Mike has Saturday mornings alone with L&E which I know they all enjoy. Then I'll let him sleep in on Sundays, give him some affection, then it's all good.

Here are details of my run today. Just 'cause:

Time: 01:10:39
Distance: 7.08 mi
Calories: 980 C
Avg Pace: 09:58 min/mi
Best Pace: 07:15 min/mi

The photo is from the next race on my calendar, the Boilermaker 15k on July 11. It will be my fourth year running it. And is it me, or is it weird that the Moody Blues are playing at the post race party? I didn't know they were still an item.........don't forget the Bondi Band Giveaway.....it ends May 26th!

Review of Vitalicious Vita Tops

After my giveaway last month of Deep Chocolate Vita Tops, I received some of my own to try out and review. I'll say right off the bat that it says a lot that Mike (who is still in the process of quitting smoking) has been eating them too.

We had a variety of Vita Tops to test out, from Chocolate Mint to Banana Nut, along with their Chocolate Brownies. If you aren't familiar with the product, one of their tag lines is "maximum nutrition for minimal calories." They are preservative free (must be kept frozen otherwise they spoil), have 8 grams of whole grains, 15 vitamins and minerals, are a good source of fiber with 100 calories and between 1 and 2 grams of fat per muffin. Completely feel good eating.

I would grab one out of the freezer, and either let it come to room temperature for a snack, or would pop it in the toaster to have for breakfast with my coffee. I put one next to Mike's water bottle in the fridge, so he could take it with him when he leaves for work. They have so many different flavors (three of chocolate alone) that it's easy to have a few favorites (at least for me). This is what I thought of each:

Apple Berry - I'm going to use the word "bursting" for this one, there were chunks of apple, along with whole blueberries and cranberries.

Blueberry Bran - very full flavored, lots of whole berries.

Golden Corn - it was dense, with a rich corn taste.

Bran Cranberry - sometimes bran can be grainy, this wasn't like that at all.

Banana Nut - subtle banana taste, I liked the addition of walnuts.

Chocolate Mint Chip - my favorite of them all, the mint flavor wasn't overpowering, and the chips just made it even better.

Triple Chocolate Chunk - reminded me of a devil dog.

Deep Chocolate - ditto on the devil dog.

We also had the Brownies, which to me tasted more like cake than a brownie, but the bonus was the nuts on top.

So if you're looking to find a way to eat muffins or chocolate and not feel guilty about it, definitely give these a try.

*I received samples for this review, I was not compensated for my thoughts on the product.

I'm a Versatile Blogger

Thanks to Elle for this "versatile blogger" award.....more bling for my sidebar!

I'm supposed to list seven things about myself, and pass it onto 15 new blog friends. I started listing blogs that I read frequently, and I had to stop, because we'd be here all day. I've shared so much about myself already, but there's always more to tell, so here goes:

1. I tend to drive a wee bit fast, although I didn't get a speeding ticket until about two years ago. I was going 81 mph in a 65. That same weekend I got a parking ticket, and then a letter from EZ Pass saying if I drove that fast thorough the exit again, they would revoke my pass. Turned out to be an expensive weekend.

2. Before having kids I traveled. Outside of the U.S. I've been to Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France, The Netherlands, Venezuela, Belgium, Mexico, Canada and the Carribean. I would love to go to Japan.

3. I want to do some trail running. I sometimes run on the trails at a nature center near my house, but I don't think that counts.

4. I'm a fan of the Mets, Giants, Islanders, Knicks and SU for college basketball, which can cause some good natured friction within my family at times, since my Dad went to Chapel Hill and he and my brother are obviously big Carolina fans.

4. I played field hockey for four years in high school, was a cheerleader for three, and captain my senior year. Go Falcons!

6. I love libraries. There is one down the street from the house I grew up in, and I was there all the time. When I lived in Rochester, I worked down the street from a library, and would spend my lunch hours there. I love the feeling of finding a little quiet corner and staying there for as long as I can. It's different now with the kids, but they love it too.

7. When I was little my grandparents had a black cat named Molly. I've always suspected that I'm named after the cat, but no one would admit it.


Barefoot Angie Bee
Running Off At The Mouth
Julie's Running Blog
Beach Eats
Miss Zippy
Weight Loss Mama
Dangle the Carrot
Tri Diesel
Run Tall, Walk Tall
Racing With Babes
Goals for the week
Early Morning Run
Morning Runner
Run to the Finish
Journey's of a Triathlete Father of Five
Age Groups Rock
Run With the Black Knight
Running on My Time
Fit To Wed

Running and eating. Running.....and eating.

I had a great week fitness wise, which is a good thing because judging by the amount of food in my fridge you would think that more than four people lived in my house.

Three out of my four runs were done outside, and I managed to squeeze in a five miler before Luke's birthday party for his buddies. I was drained after two hours with 14 six year olds, and we didn't even have the party at our house! I managed to do an hour of yoga one day, a bike ride another, and did enough push ups, squats and planks to feel sore. I haven't tried the heart rate monitor on G-Unit yet, but I'm loving how much freer my outdoor runs feel. There are paved trails throughout my development, and it's great to just ramble around knowing I'm still getting my planned mileage in.

Food wise, we still have pizza left from the kid party, TWO cakes (one for the kids, and an ice cream cake that we had to celebrate a second time with the family, after we ate greek food) all the fixings for gyro's, including Mike's homemade tzatziki sauce which has so much garlic that you can smell your own breath after eating it. Mike did the weekly shopping yesterday while Luke and I were at yet another birthday party, so last night we had my favorite grilled veggie salad for dinner. So I'm in leftover heaven.

I didn't make the above Transformers themed birthday cake. But I ate it.