I'm like freaking Betty Crocker up in here.

I've been gone for a while!
My trip to GA was super fun and successful, despite crappy weather (in the 30s and rain Georgia? really??) and flight delays on the trip back. We went to the Terrapin brewery and watched a bunch of Downton Abbey! I had so much fun hanging out with my buddy and her puppy.

He did not like my camera one bit. I think it hurt our puppy-human relationship a little.

Anyway, it's good to be back with boyfriend in VA. Of course hanging out with a puppy for 3 days makes me want a furry companion even more (no, boyfriend is not furry enough to count). For now, I will have to be content with the birds who hang out at our new bird feeder! We have filled it up twice now and they keep going through it. I think we're really popular with the birds in our neighborhood now.

Fattest. Birds. Ever.

Yes that is snow in that picture. Because it snowed on Monday. It's all melted now, but remember how I said it was supposed to get warmer? Well it's not.
I bundled up and went for a snow run on Monday. About 10 minutes in (a little over half a mile away from my house) I realized I had to pee really really badly. I forgot how cold air can do that sometimes. So I booked it home and even with cutting my circuit short I ran about 1. 4 miles in 16 minutes. Guess I need that kind of panicked motivation to move fast.
Yesterday I ran the whole 2 miles (it was much nicer, although WINDY) and finished in about 24 minutes. I ran past the same guy twice in the loop and he cheered me along. Which was good for me, cause it was like I had a personal cheer squad or something. It helps.

Look what I made us for dinner last night!

Can you guess what that 'pizza crust' is made of? Bet you can't. Cause it's freaking cauliflower. It was delicious and boyfriend is mad that I'm making him like vegetables. Of course the cheese isn't that good for us, but there was not too much and I figure all the veggies we had along with it (with salad as a starter!) balance it out. And I can't do pizza without cheese. I'm Italian!

I've been feeling really down lately. I miss Pittsburgh a lot and even with frequent trips home I'm just not feeling great down here. I think once I get some employment that will help, but trying to keep busy is draining sometimes. So I run, listen to musicals, hang with boyfriend and take pictures. And I bake. I even bake things I can't eat.

Okay...I ate one.

Those are chocolate cupcakes with a cream cheese vanilla icing. The piping is supposed to look like hydrangeas and I think I did a pretty good job! I figured they would be good for Easter and to give away to people. Got the recipe about a year ago and have been waiting to try it again (after a failed attempt the first time). You can find it over at Glorious Treats. Hers look better than mine I think, but I'm still learning when it coming to cake decorating, so I'm pretty happy.

Okay this post is long enough. I'm ready for Pittsburgh and my puppy tomorrow. And Easter. It's my favorite holiday. But for now I'm going to go for a run. (Edit: did my usual 2 miles in just over 23 minutes! Weee!)

Cheers.

Addicted to renovation television.

I love DIY network and HGTV. As an unemployed 20-something I am obviously not anywhere close to being ready to purchase a home. However, watching House Hunters and other various shows, has me yelling at the TV like it's a horror movie. "Don't pick that one! The yard sucks! DON'T GO IN THE ATTIC! THE FLOORS ARE UNSTABLE!" Some girls dream of their wedding. I dream of my future kitchen. Don't judge my dreams.

Anyway...

Sad to report that I did not work out today. Woke up feeling less than stellar and it was freezing outside. So I decided to skip it, drink a lot of juice and rest so I don't get sick this weekend. I'd rather be 100% in Georgia (where the pollen makes my allergies go batshit) than push myself too far today. I did walk to the grocery store, so I wasn't completely sedentary. Weeee!

Dinner was a deconstructed burger (no bun) and baked sweet potato chips. Tasty tasty. Boyfriend approved. I cannot bake sweet potatoes without them turning black. I have tried like 5 different ways and they always turn black. However they don't taste burnt, so whatever. Stupid oven.

Also did you know that there are chocolate cigars? Not chocolate flavored ones that you smoke..cigars that are chocolate. That you eat. Magic.

 

I have yet to pack for this weekend. I bought those tiny ass bottles to put my liquids in and that's as far as I got. Boyfriend is panicking a little, cause he doesn't understand how I work. If I give myself too much time to pack, I end up needing the things I already packed and the process starts all over again. Also I over think it. So I figure waiting till last minute makes it an easier experience on everyone. And  if I forget pants, I'm sure I can buy some in Georgia. Are pants required in Georgia? Psh whatever, my flight doesn't leave for 12 hours, right??

Blogomerating will resume Sunday night/Monday. Or whenever I get my schtuff together from the weekend. So excited!

Cheers!

P.S. Currently forcing boyfriend to read my blog. Hi boyfriend!!

I am feeling all kinds of awesome today.

Have you ever used Pandora? I kind of love it and hate it at the same time. Boyfriend can tell it that I like Queen, so it plays more Queen and other bands like Queen. Awesome. Generally a great playlist that we can just let roll. But then it starts to play Bohemian Rhapsody...and it's not Queen singing. Like really Pandora? Why would I want to hear anybody BUT Queen sing Bohemian Rhapsody? And I can't thumb it down for the fear of never getting Bohemian Rhapsody again! Get it together. I expect my free services to totally cater to my needs. Duh. (Boyfriend has issues with the ads, but they don't bug me as much. There's like one an hour dude, chill.)

So anyway, it's officially spring, which doesn't mean much except I can expect it to get warmer and stay light out longer which I love. It's 10 times easier to be active when it's nice. I swear my body wants to hibernate in the winter. But as it's warmer out now I have no excuses.

Speaking of warmer weather! I am headed to see my amazing scientist/artist/kindred-spirit friend in Georgia this weekend! She has lived there for about a year and a half now and this will be my 3rd trip down there (including helping her move, quite the adventure). I had some extra spending money from my tax return (yay adulthood!) and bought plane tickets on a whim. I'm super excited. She has a puppy, so I'm sure we'll do a good bit of walking and I'll count that as my weekend exercise. :)

Mr. Mayday looking adorable last March.

And speaking of exercise! (Segues are hard, okay??) I ran again today cause I was actually feeling pretty great after yesterday. Keeping to the same route I made it in 25 minutes! According to my math-y boyfriend that is almost 10% faster than my first run. Yay! And according to mapmyrun, I'm just under a 13 minute mile. Which if you know me at all is pretty huge. I am much less sore than before and I feel great. Big smiles.

Dinner was another gem from PaleOMG, a "creamy" chicken casserole. It was my first time cooking with coconut milk and it worked pretty good. Just a little too liquid-y. But delicious liquid! It was weird to have a casserole with no cheese, but I didn't miss it, and I put bacon on mine. Sometimes I can't wait to eat leftovers.

I wanted to go get free Rita's for dessert today, cause I've never done that in all the springs I've seen. Boyfriend told me he doesn't really like Rita's to which I replied he must not really like happiness.
Some people are so weird.

That's all for today,
Cheers!

Zonking will occur in 3...2...

Quick post before I fall asleep!

Ran the same route I did the other day, just took me a couple minutes less, as I finished the 2 miles in 26 minutes. So...yay improvement? It's not much and it doesn't feel exciting yet, but I didn't die as much this time (Took my inhaler with me...clever girl.). So baby steps. I can and will do this!

Skipped the beef stew, as it was super nice out today and that just felt too heavy for weather in the high 50s. So I whipped up a couple baked salmon fillets and served them on a bed of zucchini 'fettuccine'. Turning vegetables into things I love is so much fun. Had a small glass of wine as well, since boyfriend and I like to get fancy sometimes.

Found a paleo-friendly dessert that has sunbutter in it, so I can used up some of my new stock. You can find the sunbutter 'fudge' over on Preppy Paleo. It was so super easy, I already had all of the ingredients in my cabinets. Plus I made it into small portions, so I won't be as tempted to eat all of it immediately. (it's pretty rich as well, so less of a danger there!) I have a major sweet tooth, so I know to completely deprive myself will lead to failure later. So this is a slightly healthier way to get my fix without completely wrecking my diet changes so far.

Quick phone picture I snapped of it in progress. :)

 Okay, sleep now. I hope this is coherent when I read it tomorrow. Sometimes my thoughts turn into run-on sentences.
Cheers!

Catchup!

This weekend was pretty darn fun.

We drove home on Friday as you know, and had a lovely night catching up with old friends at our local watering hole.

Saturday was Pittsburgh's St. Patrick's Parade. This is always a blast and even though I was DD for the day, it was so much fun I didn't care! I have no other words for the day. I spent it with amazing friends, family and food. That's all an Irish girl can really ask for!

	Some of the shenanigans from our tailgate!

Sunday was my adorable puppy's 10th birthday (and officially St. Patrick's Day)! I got her a new tag with her name on it and a new leash, cause we never replaced the one she chewed up as a puppy. I figured since she's "over the hill" now it's about time.

Boyfriend's brother and sister-in-law just had their first baby last week and asked me to take some nice shots of him, so we did that on Sunday as well before heading back down to Virginia. I haven't finished editing them yet, so expect a couple of those as I get to them.

Speaking of racecars... boyfriend was giving me a bunch of shit for taking so long to go through the 400 some pictures I took at the AutoX event. So I finally did. Even if it was just to shut him up. 

This was my favorite!

So pretty.

So anyway, besides a butt-ton of walking, I did not get much exercise in this weekend. Fortunately my Dad is totally Paleo right now, so I managed to eat pretty healthy, even with all the temptations around me. (He also loaded me up with a bunch of sunbutter to bring back-which I can't find in my local HT, so yay for paleo-daddy!)

We dropped in at our local bar for a pint of Guinness and some grub to wrap up Sunday night. Unfortunately it was filled with drunken people and an acoustic guitar player who was doing bad Dave Matthews covers.

And they served my Guinness in a solo cup. Unacceptable. Excuse the crappy phone picture.

So we came home after we ate, drank Bailey's in milk and listened to Great Big Sea and the Dubliners.

It's good to be back, with more of a routine in place. Did some toning inside today, cause the sky was pretty leaky. Hopefully it will be less wet tomorrow and I can get a run in!

Dinner was a paleo quiche (with sausage, spinach and sweet potatoes) that was so good, I forgot to get a picture. (You can find the recipe and more amazing ones like it over on PaleOMG-one of my favorite paleo sites!) I'm eyeing up a tasty beef stew that I found a couple of weeks ago for tomorrow. We'll see how ambitious I get!

That's it for now. Tried to keep it short since I missed a few days, sorry it was all over the maps. See you tomorrow little bloggy-blog!

Cheers!

Why I can never have children.

I can't play this "drag the sleepy person out of bed" game.

Here is how last night went:
"Hey boyfriend, I'm going to set the alarm for 7 so we can get up and try to get on the road at 8."
Boyfriend: "Sounds good."

This morning was a different story. I wake up at 7, go shower, finish packing and am ready to bounce at 7:30. Boyfriend is still asleep. This is amidst all of my packing noise and shakes and plain old ripping off the bed covers when 7:45 hit. Now it's 8:00 exactly as I write this sentence. So you can guess where I am. Argh.

I guess I can't be too mad at him. Not everyone had family vacations where our day started at 4:30 in the morning. I remember one time we got there so early, the place we were staying wasn't even ready for us yet. My dad was a big believer in "having the whole day" and I guess that transferred to me. Boyfriend is lucky my internal clock is set later than my dad's is.

Here's hoping he get's his ass up for the parade and festivities tomorrow or so help me, I will leave him behind!

In other news we obviously didn't go to Pittsburgh yesterday as planned. That trip should be happening shortly. Yesterday was spent cleaning around the house (i.e.: dancing and singing while moving things around) and baking these little pretties for Saturday:

These are my favorite cupcakes and unfortunately (or fortunately I guess for my waistline!) only appropriate one time a year. Their name is known to cause internet comment explosions and that's not how I want to get readers so...I'll call them Guinness, Jameson,  and Baileys cupcakes of amazing goodness! Too long? Oh well. You can find this amazing recipe and many others over on Brown Eyed Baker. She's an awesome cook (and she's from Pittsburgh too! Double Points!)

Hope everyone has a happy St. Paddy's day weekend! Boyfriend and I haven't decided who's driving tomorrow, so maybe there will be drunken blogging! Bwahahaha.

Cheers!

Like a baby giraffe.

My legs are not having it today.

Even though I spend some time stretching them out yesterday, the muscles in my thighs randomly seize up when I walk. Which gives me a peculiar gait.

Anyway, boyfriend and I are headed home to Pittsburgh tomorrow when he's off work. It's St. Paddy's day and we have to get our Irish on! So today was spent cleaning up and doing laundry so I can pack.

We took a walk this afternoon (same length as my run yesterday), so at least I kept moving. I'm going to stretch out again tonight and hopefully can run another circuit tomorrow. If not I'll definitely do some toning around the house!

Dinner was baked chicken fingers (with almond meal instead of breadcrumbs) and roasted veggies. I forgot to take any pictures before we ate it all, so you'll just have to be content with our dessert cups. A new frozen yogurt shop just opened across the street, so we couldn't help buy try it! Yum yum.

That's it for today. Pittsburgh tomorrow night! :)
Cheers!

Ratpatootie!

Day one:
I went for a jog today. It was about 50 something degrees outside and I have new running shoes (Asics GEL-Noosa Tri 8 Running Shoes), so there was no reason not to.

Tell me these aren't the coolest shoes you've ever seen.

Using my handy-dandy MapMyRun App (which I'm not sharing on Facebook as it's too embarrassing with all my marathon running friends) I logged my course.

It's a solid 2 mile course (2.04 precisely) and I finished it in 28 minutes. Considering I had to walk about 1/2 of that I don't hate my time. Unfortunately I hate my body. Specifically my lungs.
Let's just say it's a good thing my friend gave me her extra inhaler last weekend, cause I sounded like an accordion by the end of it.

I am resolved to do better.

Dinner is homemade paleo meatballs and ratatouille. I feel so fancy!

Om nom nom nom. If I could tell my 10 year old self that vegetables could taste this good!

Caught boyfriend going back for seconds. I'll stick to the serving size!

Tried to convince boyfriend to then watch Ratatouille, but he's not having it. Expendables 2 it is.
Oh well!

Cheers!

So, I'm a crazy person.

I've never been what you might call a 'runner'. I used to do the Race for the Cure and The Great Race 5ks with my dad, but I jogged/walked them. Not to mention, I was 10, so the energy levels were much higher. But I did work out quite a bit. I did zumba and toning exercises regularly and was pretty happy with my overall figure. Hell I was a size 8 for the first time ever, so yay for me. I even tried to run a 5k last August, with minor success. I only had to walk twice and even though I finished well behind my teammates, I finished and that was the important thing.
I was on a healthy high point. I could do anything. In a fit of "Why the Hell not?"-ness I signed up to do an obstacle course 5k called The Warrior Dash in May of this year.

Then I moved to Virginia.

Away from routine, with everything changing around me, my health has gone up in smoke. I've put on weight, and I can't stick with a fitness regime for the life of me.

Now the Warrior Dash is in 2 months and I've got to get it together, or I will die.

Thanks to a super supportive boyfriend and my amazing fitness instructor sister, I'm eating healthier and trying to do the work out thing. I figure if I can take control of anything in my life, it had better be my health.

So that's what this blog is for. Accountability and routine. Even if no one ever reads this blog, it is a step towards regaining my health and happiness.

Time to stop making excuses.

Cheers!