Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hurricane Sandy

Forgive me for not updating yesterday-things were a little crazy.

I'm sure that many of you know what happened in the Northeast yesterday- Hurricane Sandy. Luckily, we aren't too bad off here. Our power is out but luckily we have a generator that allows me to be able to get online, have 1 tv running, run the fridge, some lights, and our well. However, many people aren't as lucky.
It's so sad to see all the devastation that has occurred all over from this hurricane. We are not as badly off- but we are unable to leave our driveway due to down power lines.

Photo: Blocking my driveway!! http://instagr.am/p/RYXJZfrnjH/

We will be spending the day cleaning up our yard and hanging around the house since we can't leave yet! So there's not much to update you all on but I will keep you updated on everything when I get a chance- hope you all are safe too!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

100 Years..

Today was an eventful Sunday! My parents asked me if I wanted to go on a walk with them this morning and at first I planned on only taking a leisurely stroll with them for 2/3 miles, but changed my mind and decided to get my 5K training plan out of the way..


Today consisted of:
5 minute warm up walk
5 minute run
3 minute walk
6 minute run
3 minute walk
5 minute run
5 minute cool down walk

It was neither horrendous or wonderful- but I did it! I especially LOVE the quote that was on the program today, "You are much stronger today than you were only 1 month ago". That is completely true- one month ago I had trouble running for 2 minutes straight now I'm running for 6! For me that's incredible! =)

After I finished my run- I ended up stretching while waiting for my parents to finish their walk- and then we headed over to Dunkin Donuts for some breakfast.



Yum! One of my favorite breakfast- a plain bagel with butter and small iced extra extra.


Check out how gorgeous it was today with all the leaves on the ground...I love fall!

This afternoon I headed off with my family to my great grandma's 100th birthday! This was the first 100th birthday I've ever been to- I don't know how many people have ever been to one. All of my extended family was there and it was a great day to celebrate!









After the party, we went to Mystic Pizza for appetizers and drinks with my cousins, uncles, and papa- it was a great time! 

I just found out that I don't have work tomorrow and most of the schools/business in the area are closed in preparation for the hurricane. So tomorrow will be a nice day off! =)

Hope everyone stays safe if you're in the hurricane's path and if you're not- I hope the start of your week is great! =)

Have you ever been to a 100th birthday party for anyone?
Do you hope to live to 100?

My answer to the 1st question is pretty obvious as you can see in the above post. I'm not sure if I want to live to 100. I think that it will depend on how long my friends and family live! I wouldn't want to be alone for sure!


Saturday, October 27, 2012

Halloween Party Fun!

Once I got out of work today, I headed off with one of my co-workers, Kaitlin to check out the course for the 5K we will be running. We walked the entire thing so we were able to see what the hills were like and where the race will take us. We had a great time chatting away and getting pumped up! Only a month away!

Tonight, I attended a Halloween party thrown by one of my best friend's dad and stepmother. It was a great time! I brought all my treats and they all went super quickly, barely any were left when I left the party!  I decided to not spend money on a costume this year and took out one of my old dance costumes and dressed up as a ballerina this year! 


I even made it authentic and wore my pointe shoes- which I hand't put on for 2 years. Man, my feet felt like they were broken by the end of the night!


And Roxy gave me some kisses before I left...


Now for some pictures from the party.... 


Steph embarrassed by her mom singing to her...


Chariho High School Buddies


Our group =)


Jenna, Laura, and Brittni


Jenna and Brittni- Ghostbusters!


FGB- First Grade Buddies


Laura and Brit- Uconn Buddies!


Marie Antoinette breaking it down...


Heather, Brittni's stepmom made this Martha Stewart creation- so cool!

This was my big Halloween celebration and dress up time this year because I won't be going out on actual Halloween. I don't know if anyone will be...I've heard that Hurricane Sandy might get pretty nasty up here this coming week..
Speaking of Hurricanes- next year is MY year! There will be a Hurricane Melissa. Woohoo =)

Has there ever been a hurricane named after you?

Wellll I'm off to bed- hope everyone had a great Saturday!



Friday, October 26, 2012

Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate!

I had an amazing run today- I honestly didn't feel like it was that difficult. Maybe it was because of my running buddy...


Yeah no- not her.

She wouldn't make it 5 minutes =)


My daddy ran with me! He mostly walked, but it was nice when I ran to have somebody to walk back to and talk to during my workout! We talked about how we'd like to fix up our bikes and bike around the area. He also thinks that he could bike along beside me as I run-which would be nice! 

This is what todays run looked like:


5 minute warm up walk
3 minute run
2 minute walk
5 minute run
2 minute walk
5 minute run
2 minute walk
3 minute run
2 minute walk
5 minute cool down walk

I'm 1/2 to 5K!!!



My reward? A sweenor's chocolate bar! yum yum yum.


Then I got started baking with mom- ready to bake some more yummy treats.


I have a few events to go to this weekend, one of which being a Halloween party- so I attempted to make some witches hat that I saw on Pinterest! Aren't they cute?


All I needed for this recipe was: Keebler Fudge Strip cookies turned upside down, icing, and hershey kisses. No cooking involved= my favorite recipe!

And here are my finished treats- some with hershey kisses and some with rolos. Can't wait to bring these to the party!


It was definitely a chocolate filled morning/afternoon. Now I'm off to get a few more things done before I head off to work for the night!

Enjoy the rest of your Friday everybody!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Turkey Sandwich Sluggish

Sooooo...I didn't run today. I felt exhausted all day today- I hope I'm not getting sick. I ended up napping this afternoon for an hour and a half which was lovely although I felt even more exhausted when I woke up to leave for work.

Maybe it was my lunch...



Yes, that is a turkey sandwich- which I enjoyed every second of. Now that I'm thinking about it, whenever I eat turkey on Thanksgiving and I get really tired and nap (who doesn't?)  so perhaps that's why I feel the way I do. Oh btw, Sun chips are delicious! I had forgotten how good they really are.


How cute is she? Roxy doesn't seem to have room for her tongue inside her mouth because it's always hanging out -what a cutie =)

Today I decided to download some podcasts to listen to in the car. I downloaded: Coffee Break:Spanish and the Jillian Michaels Show. I took Spanish from 7th grade until I graduated high school and definitely could carry on a decent conversation but that was 6 years ago. Now I remember the basics but definitely could brush up on many words so I thought this podcast would be fun. I started listening to the Jillian Michaels Show and love it! She is so inspirational and seems like an amazing person.

Do you listen to any podcasts?

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

PLL Halloween Special

Todays breakfast was a bit of a change from the normal bowl of cheerios. We are running low on milk in this house, so I opted for my highly popular cheese roll. Wondering how to make said cheese roll? Well let me tell you- it's quite simple. Take a bulky roll, place 2-3 pieces of cheese inside and heat in microwave for 15 seconds or until cheese is slightly melted. Yum! It was delicious!


I haven't done my workout for today yet, but plan on doing a circuit workout from my collection on pinterest. 



Tone up workout from @annicanicole #fitfluential

I'm thinking this one might be todays winner! 

Did anyone watch the Pretty Little Liars Halloween special last night?! I was at work but caught up this morning after work and watched it online- I love when networks put their shows right online for people like me who work at night and constantly miss the best tv!

If you haven't watched it yet you may want to skip the rest of this blog post so I don't ruin anything for you.......


So peeps who are still left (peeps-hasn't come out of my mouth since middle school-where'd that come from!?)

  • Who kidnapped Aria? It sounded like a guy and a girl talking so I'm thinking Jenna and Noel? Maybe they just wanted to mess with the girls.

  • Who killed Garrett?  A. obviously. But who is A? Or part of the A-team?
  • What was Toby involved in on the train? He kept a pretty low profile!

  • Who tried to strangle Spencer? A-team..?

  • What did Aria's dad have going on with Alison? Were they involved in a romantic way? Creepy if so...

  • Who was in the body bag at the end? I'm thinking Alison? But if so how did her body get on board? Who put it there?


Ahh I have so many questions- I can't wait for the new season to start January 8th. I have a lot to keep me occupied until then but still- I want to know what happens next! 

Well I'm off to eat lunch and workout! Have a great day everybody!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

I did it!!!

I did it!

Remember the other day when I was beyond upset with myself for having a bad run and not being able to run for a whole 5 minutes?

Well today- I did it!


My workout was exactly the same one I completed on Saturday but today I actually completed my running parts without stopping! I am so proud of myself.

I don't want anyone to think that I am full out sprinting these runs- I'd refer to my running as more like a jog. I definitely am not running for speed- more so for distance and length of time. I want to be able to simply finish my 5K- not win it!

Now I just have to successfully finish one more workout this week to finish week 4, and I will be halfway done with this training program. The "badge" I earn at the end of the week is called "Halfway to 5K" so that is pretty exciting! The next run doesn't have me running any longer then 5 minutes at a time but I do have a shorter recovery time. My runs will be getting longer and by the end of this program, walking will be nonexistent in my routine. I'm definitely nervous but excited.

My reward when I finish my next run (hopefully on Thursday) will be one of these babies:


If I think 'chocolate chocolate chocolate' through my run there's a good chance I'm going to finish it ;)

Well I'm off to meet with my boss and a co-worker to view a school auditorium to see if it's a good fit for our annual recital. Then I will be having lunch and a meeting with my co-worker to discuss plans for our trip to Disney World with our students. We have a lot to talk about and figure out and we get to discuss one of my favorite topics- Disney World!

Have a great day everybody!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Red

Today has been an interesting day...

This morning I found a new blog while browsing Pinterest, http://www.thenesteffect.com
The little organizer inside me freaked out when I saw how organized Tiffany is and how she has organized her life. I browsed her blog quite a bit and got a lot of great ideas. I would highly recommend her organization posts!

I had quite a bit of work to do today-a co-worker and I are taking a group of dancers to Disney World next summer and right now we have a lot to deal with. We are trying to put together rooms, payment schedules, and general paperwork when it comes to the trip. I unfortunately was pretty focused on that for most of the day so taking pictures wasn't the first thing on my mind today.

Tomorrow, my plan is to run in the morning and then I have meetings all afternoon and work all night. Crazy schedule! I will hopefully be able to put up a longer post tomorrow- I apologize for how lame this post is today!

In other news, I downloaded a new cd today:



Red by Taylor Swift! I really enjoyed this cd on my first listen through. The songs were all really good and just what I would come to expect from Taylor. She just seems like such a sweet girl, I would love to meet her one day!

I also watched the Presidential Debate- which was interesting.... I have my opinions but I'll keep them to myself =)


Have a great night everyone!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Chocolate M&M Pretzels

Well, the weekends almost over...

"Say what?!"
Yes that's right. It's almost Monday again- unfortunately! Today was a pretty low key day around here.
It started off with some yummy cinnamon rolls- an out of the ordinary breakfast- sure beats cheerios!


Doesn't that look delicious?! Just as we were finishing breakfast- my Uncle Craig and cousins Cailean and Annabel arrived! We weren't expecting them so it was certainly a nice surprise!

My uncle just bought a brand new car and the kids are absolutely loving it! I was absolutely loving it too and thought about trading in my car for about 10 minutes until I remembered how dearly I love it =)

I spent the afternoon running errands with my mom and came home to eat a new Stouffers meal with chicken, broccoli, and cheesy rice. It was delicious and it reminded me of a meal my mom used to make when I was younger. I will definitely be purchasing it again!


Tonight my mom and I got our baking on....









Don't these treats look delicious? They are really simple to make too. Lay out square pretzels and then place Hershey kisses on top of them. Then place them in the oven for 3 minutes until slightly melted. Once they are out of oven quickly place an M&M on each one. Let them cool- placing them in the fridge obviously does this a little quicker and then enjoy! We made this batch for my moms book club but I'm planning on making another batch for a Halloween party I'm going to be attending next weekend. I also am hoping to make some around Christmas time too! =)

While baking our delicious treats my mom and I had on the TV show Extreme Couponing. This show has me incredibly intrigued! I want to be an extreme couponer but I don't have 30+ hours a week to dedicate to it like the crazies on the show do...

Do any of you coupon out there? How extreme are you?


Saturday, October 20, 2012

Bad Runs, Smoothies, and Slippy Headbands

This morning wasn't anything blog worthy- a big ole bowl of apple cinnamon cheerios and 4 hours of dance/gymnastics teaching, pretty normal in my world!

After work, I headed into Stop and Shop because I had to pick up some chapstick that I am addicted to- (Burts Bees of course)- and noticed in the beauty section some thicker headbands so I figured since I've been following the 5K plan so well I deserved some new headbands to wear while working out!


I like the look of these headbands but my entire run I was constantly adjusting it because I felt like it was slipping backwards. The gray band shown in the above picture came in a Goody pack with 3 others- red, black and white. I probably will still wear them but it may be time to invest in bic bands.
I really like the glitter bands that are on their site and am considering asking for some for Christmas! =)

So once I got home I made myself a big salad using a Mediterranean salad mix, chicken, cashews, cheddar cheese, and thousand island salad dressing.


 It was delicious- and definitely a great way to get veggies, protein and some sweet tastes in my system!

After my salad- I dug into my candy I bought yesterday but only allowed myself to snack on THREE of the gold coins. 


Chocolate coins have always been so intriguing to me even as a child. I'm not entirely sure why because I don't always think the chocolate inside of them is the best and apparently they're typically known as a Hanukkah candy- and I'm not Jewish. I always found myself trading candy with my brother so I could have his and begging for them at the store. Now as an adult I even pick them out- still not sure why! 

After letting that settle I headed out on todays run, which looked like this: 


5 minute warm up
3 minute run
2 minute walk
5 minute run
3 minute walk
5 minute run
3 minute walk
3 minute run
2 minute walk
5 minute cool down

I'm not going to lie to you guys- I didn't do the entire 5 minute run when it came around the second time. I ran and walked and ran and walked and ran and walked. I felt like there was no chance I could complete it. I will be attempting this particular run again on another day because I need to make sure I can do it before I move onto the next step. I want to push myself but I definitely know when I've hit a wall and my body won't want to run anymore.

At least the rest of the run went well! The first 5 minute run wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be and the 3 minute runs felt like nothing. 


There I am halfway through my run at the "tunnel". The trees make a cool tunnel over the road and thought I would take a picture of it and attempt walking backwards...

When I got home I immediately made Roxy spray me with the hose...

Bitch please- I'm busy.
Just kidding. Like she would do that for me- puhlease! The princess was much too busy demanding attention and getting angry with me for walking right past her to get a bottle of water. 
After some sloppy dog kisses I made my favorite smoothie


The bag says it makes two smoothies- but I always just drink the whole bag because I figure that I can use a full cup of fruit anyways =)


So yummy!



My face gets SO red after I exercise- I wish there was something I could do to change it! Oh well, at least I CAN exercise and for that I am extremely thankful!

Now that I've just turned this blog post into a novel I hope everyone has a great day! =)