love/don't love

Good Morning friends! I'm linking up with Carissa again for Lowercase Letters since last week's Miscellany Monday seemed to go over so well! Enjoy!

[1] I am absolutely adoring this semester. My classes are going phenomenally (despite missing one due to snow last week!) and I really have a deep appreciation for everything I'm learning, making it that much clearer to me that I not only chose the right graduate program but that I am doing exactly what I should be doing with my life. Love.

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[2] I haven't touched The Sound and the Fury since I wrote last week's post. I still hate it and I've been busy with school. Getting through The Book List is not going to be particularly easy if I can't get through this book. Don't Love.

[3] I went to Ikea yesterday with my mom and my sister. This trip only could have been made better had it been accompanied by a visit to Target. (Those of you who live in close proximity to a Target store have no idea how lucky you are) Despite the mess still lingering in my room, my new apartment is shaping up wonderfully and I'm quickly falling in love with it. Love.

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[4]  I am going back to Florida in less than 2 weeks to celebrate mine and my wonderful boyfriend's birthdays. We decided this last night and booked my flights and I can't wait! Love.

[5] My new roommate has two cats. One of them is adorable and always tries to snuggle with me while I'm reading. Love. The other one is evil and hisses and swats at me every time I walk by. Don't Love.

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[6] I'm really enjoying my new running club. They're definitely competitive runners and I think it's going to make me a better runner to run with them. Run #3 with the club is tonight! Love.

[7] I watched Saving Private Ryan on my Snow Day. I didn't like it. I thought it was entirely too long and that half of the action scenes did nothing to advance the plot of the film. Come on? A 27 minute opening battle scene? I get that the movie is about war, but that's just excessive. Don't Love.

[8] I have beautiful nails because my girlfriends from school and I went for martinis and manicures on Friday night followed by Mocha Martinis at Max Brenner: Chocolate by the Bald Man. Love.

 That's all on my end! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Tomorrow is the 1st of February! Embrace the fact that we are one month closer to spring!

three things thursday

1. School - The semester started up again this week and so far I love my classes. I couldn't ask for better faculty, topics, reading material, etc. I'm so excited for everything I have to do this semester: projects, papers and all! Unfortunately, the class I was looking forward to most was canceled today because of the snow so I'll get there next week! Anyway, I have some awesome projects lined up for the semester and my reading list is great! Some of the books I'll be reading for this semester are: Eat Pray Love, A Room of One's Own, I am Nujood: Age 10 and Divorced, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and The End of Poverty.So it's really going to be great and I'll be doing some fantastic traveling for school and I can't wait to tell you all about it, but that's going to have to wait awhile ;)

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I feel like this picture was taken to describe my life.

2. Training - I went for a run with the running group I told you all about on Monday and it was great! I was so proud of myself for going! It was 17 degrees outside and there was snow and ice everywhere, but I still went and met up with 3 other runners. The group is much bigger than that but there was a big race in Manhattan on Sunday that 15 of them ran and...given the weather, not many people wanted to come out. Anyway, this group is fast. We clocked in Mile 1 at 7:56, Miles 2 & 3 at 8:25 and Mile 4 at 7:55. The only reason for the slow down in the middle is because we were running through about 6 inches of snow. I can't believe I kept up with them! Any doubts I had of running a sub-2 half-marathon in March were shattered and if I keep running with them, I know I'll definitely become a better, stronger runner and I can't wait! Aside from that, I haven't run since =/ I was supposed to run yesterday and am supposed to run today but with a constant stream of 9 inches of snow and counting I haven't been able to get outside and don't anticipate making it out anytime soon.

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3. Routines - We all have some sort of a routine through the week and I'm working on getting into mine. 3 1/2 weeks in Florida vegging out is not helping this. It's going to be tough to balance my job, my internship, my classes and training while not eating dinner at Starbucks every night of the week (which I basically did last semester). This week has been pretty good, but the snow day kind of interrupted that. I think it's a blessing in disguise though because it's helping me ease back into my schedule a little bit more. This semester, I'm determined to have less on my to do list, to spend more time socializing (not locked away studying on Friday nights), to work out in the mornings and to stay on top of things! We'll see how it goes!

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I'm enjoying my Snow Day by drinking peppermint hot chocolate and eating chocolate-covered pretzels. Now I'm off to curl up with some books and movies!

Happy Thursday!

love/don't love

Hi everyone! I linked up with Carissa for Miscellany Monday once before and I don't know why I never did again, but let's see if I can start making these a bit more regular! Ironically, a lot of the things I posted about in my last Miscellany Monday (in June!) are repeats of what's going on with me now.

[1] My blog was named one of the Best Running Blogs of 2011 by Jake from Broken Hearted Runner! I'm so excited and honored about this! Love. Love. Love. 
[2] I moved into my new apartment yesterday and am settled in for the most part. The move went fairly easy since I moved into a furnished apartment and I just have a few more things that I need to bring from home. I also have to put some pictures and things on the walls and set up some utilities and then I'll be all set! Love.
[3] It was 6 degrees this morning and I have a 15 minute walk from my new place to the train station. This makes me hate not being in Florida so much more. Don't love.

[4] Classes start tomorrow! I'm so excited for the classes I'm taking this semester and can't wait to see all my friends again! Love.
[5] I skipped my 8 mile long run this weekend :/. Saturday I was feeling under the weather all day and Sunday I was moving and watching the Jets game. Don't Love. 
[6] So that I don't continue to skip my runs, I'm joining a local running club in my new 'hood. They meet tonight for a 4 mile run. I'm excited because it'll be a way for me to meet some new people as well as to be able to keep running when it's dark and cold out. I'm hoping they'll guilt me into frequently coming back. Love. 
[7] I started reading "The Sound and the Fury" from The Book List. So far, I hate it. I have no idea what is going on, who the characters are, etc. I don't understand how this is in the Top 10 of the list. What's worse is that there are 2 other William Faulkner books on the list. Has anyone read anything by Faulkner? What did you think? Don't love.
[8] Before I left Florida, The Pilot and I went to see Country Strong. This movie was incredible and brought me to tears. I can't wait to buy the soundtrack! It was the best movie I've seen in a really long time. If you like country music, go see this movie. Love.

[9]I finished reading Pride & Prejudice and absolutely adored it. I can't believe I never read that book until now. I can't wait to watch the movie(s). Love.

That's what's going on with me! What's going on with you? 

Anyone have anything exciting going on this week? 

  

   

From Beach to Blizzard

I can't believe I missed Three Things Thursday! I had so much to write about too that I was worried I wouldn't be able to fit it all into three things...my excuse? I was getting on a plane and leaving this:

for this:

 

Yea, I'm not happy either kids. On top of it all, I left The Pilot and I'm really sad about it. I'm not quite sure when we're going to see each other again which makes this that much harder, so I'm basically a big box of no fun and will mope around until I get over it. (Not really though, but maybe a little bit)

So, I'm moving on Sunday...again. This will be like my 3rd move in 7 months...I won't get into details about it but I absolutely had to get of my last apartment. It was a nightmarish roommate situation. Hopefully this next apartment will be better. I think it will though. I'm cautiously optimistic and I'll fill you all in about it once I'm all settled.

School starts up again on Tuesday...this semester should be easier than last semester but we'll see. I'm really excited about the classes I'm taking and I'll post about those next week! I also have to go back to work on Monday (blah!) and my internship on Tuesday (yay!). So I'm going from a relaxing Florida vacation to a full throttle New York City lifestyle all over again. Brace yourselves!

Training is going spectacularly! I haven't missed a workout and I've been feeling great! I've been incorporating strength and cross-training, speed workouts and nice easy runs and I'm really enjoying my training. I will break 2:00 at the NYC Half on March 20. I mean, really...if I could come in at 2:00:53 with 2 potty breaks at Diva's, I can definitely break 2 in NY!

I bought an Amazon Kindle! So far, I love it! I was SO against these things for the longest time.  I mean, who wants to read a classic like Pride & Prejudice on an electronic device? And what's wrong with carrying a book around? And what do you do on the plane when you can't have your e-devices on? Trust me, every reason against it, I was arguing it. But then I got my book list for this semester and I realized that Kindle books are up to 50% cheaper than actual text books. Then I thought about traveling all over the city carrying around 5-8 books to class along with my lunch and my gym clothes and everything else and it just made sense. So I did it. I think it's a fantastic item for students. Maybe I will end up occasionally reading a novel for pleasure on it but I will still be a faithful visitor to the library. Best part about it? For selling all my text books back to Amazon, I had a credit to my Amazon account and ended up only paying $14 for it. How awesome is that?

That's all for now! I don't want to leave you with too long of a post on a a Friday! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! My weekend plans consist of:

• Catching up with Mom
• Kindle-ing for the first week of classes
• 8 mile long run on Saturday
• Moving into the new apartment on Sunday
• Watching the Jets win their way to the Super Bowl on Sunday!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Guest Posting!

Hey everyone! Happy Sunday! I'm Guest Posting today over at Run, Courtney, Run. Courtney is an amazing runner and triathlete and her blog is definitely one of my favorites so I was more than happy to write a guest post for her! I wrote it all about diet and nutrition and how I maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle while being a vegetarian, semi-iron deficient, lactose intolerant runner! Check it out here!

I had my first long run of my Half Training Cycle today: 8 miles. It went pretty well! I had a long night yesterday filled with some of The Pilot's college buddies and let's just say beer, shots and bombs followed by waffles for breakfast make for a not so great long run. I actually felt pretty ok throughout it but I'm super sore now!

I'm off to finish watching the Jets game! Hope you've all had a great weekend!

Let's Go Jets!!!

Take Stock in Children 5k Race Report

I ran my first 5k this morning! A little late right? Usually one starts with a 5k and then moves up to 10ks, Half-Marathons and Marathons, but I skipped right over this distance and went straight for a 10k.

Anyway, as you all know, I'm in Sunshiny Florida visiting my beloved and I decided to run a local 5k! This was a teeny tiny race with less than 100 people in a housing development that was beautiful! It was very well organized. The race started just on the side of this beautiful little lake (pond?) in the development. Since it was my first small race, I was a little bit confused as to where to line up since there were no corrals, so I just lined up close to the finish line but not too close.

As soon as I started, I felt like I was going out too fast based on how quickly the guys in front of me went out so I slowed up a bit to a comfortable pace. I hit Mile 1 at 8:10 and Mile 2 at 16:30. When I rounded Mile 3, I started to feel the effects of running so fast but I didn't want to lose my pace so I kept up with it. Since every race I've run has been a longer distance, I've maintained a slower than normal pace throughout and sprinted out the finish but I knew I was definitely giving it my all when I saw the Finish Line and had almost nothing left to give. I picked it up as much as I could and ran through the Finish in 25:38!

When I got home and checked the results, I found out that I placed 1st in my Age Group! Awesome start to the 2011 Race Season!

Sadly, I don't have any pictures because I forgot to give my camera to The Pilot but nonetheless, it was a great race!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

three things thursday

1. Training and Tempo Runs - I started training for the NYC Half-Marathon this past Monday and so far so good. I'm really trying to incorporate strength and cross training into this training cycle and it's been much easier being here in Florida with nothing to do so we'll see how that goes once the semester kicks into gear again. I did a 5 mile tempo run today on the treadmill and it was awesome. I just had a great run and I'm pretty excited about it. I think The Pilot are going to go celebrate at Sonic in a bit. I saw a sign for a Red Velvet Cheesecake Blast and I think I have to have it. (Side note: I never eat fast food...unless it's Sonic...which they don't have in New York...so it's ok).

2. First Race of 2011 - I'm running my first ever 5k this weekend! Woohoo! I joined up with Lesley's Run for the Bling of It Challenge so I needed a race for the month of January and decided a local 5k here in Florida would be perfect! It may slightly defeat the purpose because I don't think many 5ks give out race bling but maybe I'll get lucky!

3. Dinner Recipes - I need everyone's help for dinner recipes! Starting in about 2 weeks my work day will end at 5 or 5:30 (depending on where I'm working that day) and class starts at 6:30 so I have an hour or an hour and a half given the day to get to class AND eat dinner. I spent a lot of money on quickie dinners which weren't exactly healthy or high in protein this past semester and I'm looking for some dinner recipes that I can carry to work with me and that either don't need to be heated up or that I can heat up before I leave work. So, share some websites, recipes, ideas, WHATEVER! It will be MUCH appreciated!

Happy Thursday!

Whip It Up Wednesday!

Dear Friends,


I hope you're all enjoying the snow! I heard this morning on Today that it is snowing in 49 states plus D.C.! Everywhere except Florida! Don't get too jealous though...it's pretty cold here today and I sadly have to leave the Sunshine State for the Winter Wonderland Hellstorm that is New York next week.

But on to other things, I haven't done a Whip It Up Wednesday post in awhile and since I was busy in the kitchen with 2 other recipes this weekend I thought I'd share! Both of these recipes are from Real Girls Eat and they were both delicious! First up:

Tamari Glazed Chicken.

 

Served with Brown Rice and Chickpeas sauteed in Tamari Glaze.

[Ingredients]

1 cup Tamari

1/3-1 tsp chili powder (depending on your taste)

1/4 cup sesame oil

1/3 cup mirin (rice wine vinegar)

2 tbsp sugar

1 clove garlic

6 chicken breasts

3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

1 bunch green oions

[Directions]

-Preheat oven to 400.

-Clean and prepare chicken by rinsing and patting dry with paper towels.

-Cut in half along the backbone and then into quarters.

-Lay out in a roasting dish wiped with olive oil.

-Mix together Tamari, chili powder, sesame oil, mirin, sugar until combined.

-Crush or slice the garlic finely and add to marinade.

-Pour marinade over chicken and set aside 1 hour turning over a couple of times.

-Roast in the oven uncovered for 45-50 minutes turning and basting ever 15 minutes.

-Lay out, spoon sauce and garnish with sesame seeds and sliced green onions.

-Serve with steamed rice.

[Notes]

-The recipe calls for chicken with the bone and skin on but I used boneless, skinless chicken and it worked just fine. 

-The sesame seeds are expensive so I didn't buy any...they're really just for garnish so you can eliminate them if you choose. 

-My chicken cooked in 20 minutes so be mindful of the time while you're baking it! 

Vanilla Ice Cream with Berry Swirl Topping

For this recipe, you take strawberries, blackberries and rasberries (I used frozen and then thawed them out) and boil them down individually with 1/3 cup of sugar and about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice until the berries have broken down. When they have broken down, take 1 gallon of vanilla ice cream and mix the individual sauces into the ice cream swirling them. Stick it in the freezer over night and you've got a delicious dessert the next day!

Enjoy!

Might be my favorite Monday...

I never thought the words *favorite* and *Monday* could ever go together but I'm just loving today! I woke up this morning around 11...which is about the earliest I've woken up since I've been in Florida...stayed in bed and read my daily chapters from the Bible and then read Pride and Prejudice for another hour.

 

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I'm ashamed to say I'm reading this book for the first time, thanks to The Book List...but I just can't put it down. I've long wondered about the inscrutable Mr. Darcy and just what his love affair entails and now I'm happily learning all about it.

When I finally got out of bed, I made breakfast and sat outside on the porch eating my delicious protein-packed breakfast in the 77 degree beautiful weather that I'm living in at the moment. *Sigh*

On that note, my protein-packed breakfast was the beginning of Half-Marathon training which starts today for the NYC Half. I'll be hitting the gym with my man this afternoon for strength and cross-training and continuing training tomorrow with an easy 4-mile run...in the 80 degree weather.

This weekend was perfect. Friday night, The Pilot and I headed up to Orlando for my first ever NBA game! We had an amazing Cajun dinner at a bar nearby the stadium and got to celebrate Stuff the Magic Dragon's (the Magic's Mascot) birthday which was hilarious! If you know anything about me, it's that I love Mascots. I think they're amazing and they crack me up!

"Stuff" and his friends break dancing on the court.

Saturday we spent the day out and about doing some shopping and then came home and I made us dinner and then we headed to a bar to watch the J-E-T-S come in a heart attack-inducing victory over the Colts with 3 seconds to spare in the game! I can't wait to do it again this Sunday and watch the Jets take on New England!

Rockin' our green and white for the Jets game!

Sunday, we lounged around all day being lazy bums and then went to church. After dinner, we stayed up way too late playing Yahtzee! It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend!

I can't say enough how much I love being in Florida! Being in a long-distance relationship isn't always easy but I'm so blessed to have the time to take a long trip down here to be with my honey! My only problem is that...I don't think I ever want to leave! It's 80 degrees here and there's a blizzard in New York! 

Anyway, I'm off to see what else this perfect Monday has in store...and to start training...

Happy Monday!

Three Things Thursday

1. Recipes - I've made two more recipes from Real Girls Eat since I've been in Florida. Sunday morning, I made the French Toast Fingers for The Pilot and me. I loved them. Add a little OJ and orange zest to the egg mix and throw some strawberries on top and you have a delicious twist on traditional French Toast!

Then I made some Greta's Lasagna out of the same cookbook. I had never made lasagna before...or anything with ground beef for that matter. Lucky for me, The Pilot is honest. He said it was pretty good but needed more sauce and maybe it's because I used whole wheat lasagna noodles instead of regular, but the top layer just didn't cook and was still hard as a rock so he had to eat the middle. Sorry babe! Hopefully he wasn't just being nice by saying it was pretty good and will eat the leftovers in the fridge!

Next up, Tamari Glazed Chicken and Vanilla Ice Cream with Berry Swirl! I'm so close to having cooked my way through this cookbook I can taste it...literally!

2. The Holy Bible - No. 5 on my list is to read the Holy Bible. The Bible is also one of the books on my Book List. I spent a lot of time during the Fall talking to friends and researching different Bibles and I finally settled on one. I needed a new one because the Extreme Teen Bible I had been using since I was 13 wasn't quite cutting it anymore. I bought a Devotional Bible and I love it! It's the full text of the Bible (NIV translation) and includes daily and devotions for further understanding of the scriptures. I started the "One Year through the Bible" on January 1 and have been reading a few chapters a day since. I'm up to Genesis Chapter 23. Those of you who have read the Bible know that the Book of Genesis can be a little dry but I'm glad I'm finally reading the Bible and I'm glad I'm doing it in this way! Not to mention, how cute is this Bible?

3. Spanish - Remember when I said I had big plans for this winter? Well, I wasn't kidding. I started watching an educational Spanish soap opera yesterday so that I can start working on speaking Spanish more fluently and with more confidence. See, I can speak Spanish but I get really nervous speaking it...no idea why. I can talk to my grandmother with no problem but anyone else? Forget it. So I'm watching this Soap called Destinos so that I can start hearing more conversational Spanish. It's a 52-episode series and once I'm finished with it, I'm going to go ahead and read a book in Spanish (another thing off my list!) and I think that by that point, I'll be able to cross it off my list! The first episode alludes to the fact that the lead guy Don Fernando, who is like 80, has a child with another woman that no one knows about! Juicy! I love Spanish soaps (telenovelas!), they're hilarious!

I'm still in the Sunshine State and loving it! I've got a big weekend ahead but all I have to say about it is LET'S GO JETS! ;)

December Recap

Happy New Year friends! I hope you had a wonderful time celebrating the new year! As for me, I finally made it through the East Coast Blizzard to the Sunshine State after quite the game of travel charades and I spent New Year's Eve in in Fort Lauderdale with The Pilot and some of his friends and we had a great time! I'm still in Florida and loving the warm, sunny weather and can't wait to start running in shorts again! Training for the NYC Half-Marathon starts next week so it's going to be great! But before I jump into what January will be like, it's time to recap the month of December 2010!

In December, I:

• Reached 250 followers on my blog!
• Finished my first semester of graduate school with excellent grades!
• Read 1 more book off The Book List. 
• Watched 2 more movies off The Movie List. 

The two movies I watched were The Dark Knight and Requiem for a Dream. The Dark Knight was awesome. I hate that it took me so long to watch it because I love Batman movies and I loved Heath Ledger. If you haven't seen it yet, go see it! It was incredible! I can't wait for the next one!





Requiem for a Dream was a good movie too. Starring Jared Leto (I've loved him since his My So Called Life days!) the film followed Leto, his girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly), best friend (Marlon Wayans) and mother (Ellen Burstyn) who all experience drug addiction in different ways. The end of this film was pretty disturbing but it was still a great movie!



All in all, It was a good month, busy with finals and the holidays but good! Now I'm on winter break until January 24 and I plan on spending a lot of time running, reading, cooking for my man and watching movies! And since I am in the Sunshine State, I might have to take a trip to the beach to build my sandcastle! We'll see about that though!

For those of you who are back to work this week, have a good week and good luck starting on all of your New Year's Resolutions!