Some Sad News

A day in the life…

May 022013

Hey there people! Happy Thursdayyyyyy I am in a fantastic mood this morning for no particular reason and it feels great. Don’t you just love days like that?

Ok so it’s time to announce the winner of Wednesday’s giveaway! Thank you so much to everyone who entered! You guys were really excited about those boxes I used random.org to pick a winner from the comments. And the winner is…

Number 31, Samantha!

Samantha, please send your shipping address to ChelseaEatsTreats@gmail.com so I can send the information to Bestowed Box. Also, to everyone who didn’t win but is still interested in receiving a box, don’t forget you can get $5 off your order by using the code 5OFFBSTOWED01 at checkout. It sounds like a great deal to me!

A Day In The Life

Earlier this week, Caitlyn from City & The Cubicle left me a sweet comment on my Weight Loss Story. She had never commented before (I don’t think…) and her comment inspired me to pop on over to her blog to see what City & The Cubicle was all about. Upon reading the first post I saw, A Day in the Life, I was hooked by her witty sense of humor and clever idea for a linkup.

In that post Caitlyn claims that her life is super boring and that she was sure no one would link up, but I liked the idea and wanted to prove her wrong. I think everyone likes reading about a day in the life of someone else! So, without further ado, here’s a day in the life of me

6:25 am: My Sleep Cycle alarm goes off, which either means I’m in the “lightest” cycle of my sleep or I’m all out of time. It’s usually the latter. I hit ignore and go back to sleep.

6:45 am: My “real” alarm starts going off, but I know I still technically have fifteen more minutes. I hit ignore and go back to sleep. Repeat every five minutes until 7:00.

7:00 am: My actual real alarm goes off, which has a different noise than the other one. I’m pathetic, I know. Jack has learned the difference in these alarms, so when the real one goes off (it’s super loud and obnoxious) he jumps on top of me and licks my face. Thanks, Jack. Good morning to you too.

7:03 – 7:12 am: Attempt to wake up my brain by catching up on everything on my phone. I usually look at my Sleep Cycle (to see if I’ve slept well or not so I can decide whether it’s appropriate to be feeling as tired as I am), check the weather, read my horoscope (this is a new habit! Thanks a lot Megan and Vic…), check Facebook, Instagram, and whatever else I can do to prolong the actual start of my day.

7:13 am: Jack is usually whining constantly by now for me to take him outside. I throw on sweatpants and flip flops and toss my hair into a messy bun. Jack runs around frantically until I get the leash out. Then he sits patiently at the door because he knows I won’t put the leash on him until he sits. Good boy.

7:15 am: Jack barrels down the stairs of our apartment and I pray that no one is in the hallway lest 1) he pounces on them in joy or 2) they see me in my full beautiful morning glory. I open the door and Jack runs outside with varrying levels of enthusiasm, depending on the number of squirrels he sees.

7:16 – 7:26 am: We walk around the neighborhood, Jack stopping to pee every few seconds (on all the plants that have signs saying “Keep pets off” while I yank on his leash and tell him to get out of the recently-mulched rose bushes). I listen to Harry Potter on audio book and enjoy the sunshine. This task is a whole lot less enjoyable in the snow and rain.

7:27 am-7:45 am: Head back inside. Jack dances around his food dish until I fill it up. Then I brush my teeth and hop in the shower.

7:46 am-7:57 am: Dry off. Wear comfy white bathrobe that I got for free from work one day last year (weird, I know). Head to the kitchen for breakfast- usually cereal and a banana. Turn on the Today Show. Watch until the local news comes on, which tells me that I’m running late. Oops.

7:58-8:26 am: Continue getting ready while watching the Today Show. I usually bother Fabio at some point, who is still sleeping, by asking him if my outfit looks ok. He grunts. I continue getting ready until the local news comes on again. Time to leave! Force Jack to lick my face (“Give me a kiss. Come on. Jack, just lick me. Jaaaaack. Just a small one. Ok. Thank you. Have a good day.”) and then say bye to Fabio. Grab my bagged lunch, head outside and wave to Fabio and Jack from the window.

8:26-8:55 am: Listen to Harry Potter audio book. Walk to the metro. Have a conversation with the newspaper manwoman (no really, I can’t tell what gender this person is and I see him/her every day) that goes like this…

“Express?” [while he/she holds a newspaper in my direction and smiles]

“No thank you.” [smiling back]

“Have a good day [or weekend, if it's Friday].” [still smiling]

“You too.” [smile and walk down escalator]

Squeeze onto a packed metro car. Try to hold on to something. Feel excited if I’m lucky enough to stand by a vertical pole. Otherwise I stand on my tip toes and attempt to hold the overhead railing. Try to ignore the feeling of being squashed and rubbed by strangers on every side. Open my kindle, read for 6 minutes until it’s time to get off the metro. Hope my SmartTrip card works, since it can be finnicky. Listen to Harry Potter some more. Walk three blocks to work.

8:56 – 9:25 am: Arrive at work. Check urgent emails. If it’s a bad day, respond to emails instantly and jump right into assignments. If it’s a good day, drop off lunch in the kitchen, pour a huge glass of ice water, and catch up on blogs.

9:26 am-12:16pm: Begin working for real. Procrastinate a little in between projects. Keep working. Go to a meeting. Keep working. Read a Buzzfeed article that my coworker sent me. Send it to all my friends. Watch videos of puppies trying to walk down stairs. Keep working.

12:17 pm-1:17 pm: Lunch time! Walk to kitchen for my lunch. Take a photo if it’s Tuesday. Eat lunch. Read blogs. Write that day’s blog post.

1:18 -5:42 pm: Begrudgingly get back to work. Take a break after a few minutes to eat three Hershey kisses. Get back to work. Go to another meeting. Send a bunch of emails. IM my coworkers. G-chat my friends. Work. Work. Work. Walk to CVS for an errand or grab froyo with coworkers if it’s someone’s birthday or the weather is particularly nice. Drink some green tea. Eat an apple. Do all of these things. Do none of these things (it varries).

5:42 – 6:35 pm: Enter my time in billable 15 minute increments. Try to remember what I did all day. Log off my computer. Put on headphones and listen to Harry Potter audio book while walking down the stairs (I never take the elevator). Walk back to the metro. Squeeze back onto the crowded metro car. Try to avoid the fat guy’s armpit in my face. Open kindle. Read for 6 minutes. Put on Harry Potter audio book again. Get anxiety about my Smart Trip card holding up the line of people behind me trying to exit. Feel the shame of people going around me, or the thrill of making it through the turnstile on the first try. Walk home. Greet Jack and/or Fabio (if he’s home) and join them for a walk if Fabio hasn’t already taken Jack out.

6:36-7:36 pm: Eat a pretzel stick with hummus and try to prolong my run. Eventually put on running clothes. Put on Harry Potter audio book, again. Start running. Go to Georgetown if it’s three miles. Run along the water if it’s four. Go to the gym and grumble if it’s raining.

7:37-8:15 pm: Start making dinner. Ask Fabio to abandon his cell phone game, Clash of Clans, or the baseball game on ESPN to help me chop the veggies. Catch up on our day. Continue making dinner. Ask Fabio to get the plates down and pour our waters.

8:16 – 9:00 pm: Find something good on TV to watch while eating dinner. Snap a photo of my food, just in case I need it for the blog. Say prayers (“Bless us oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.” -the prayer we both learned growing up. “Bless this food to our use and us to thy service” – the prayer my stepdad said when I was growing up. “Thank you for Jack, and our home, and each other. And please help grandpa to get better” -our own thing. Amen.) on varrying levels of speed depending on how excited we are to eat (lol I can’t believe I’m admitting this). Eat dinner. Continue watching TV, usually Dexter, Shameless, Game of Thrones, Homeland, or something on regular TV (The Voice, Biggest Loser, The Bachelor, etc).

9:16-10:37 pm: Once the show ends, do dishes and clean up from dinner. Make lunches. Debate watching more TV. Decide to move to the bedroom. Fabio will put on a baseball game or something and I will probably read. Once the clock approaches 10:30, I put my kindle down and try to watch whatever Fabio has on TV. Fall asleep.

Phew! Now you know more about me than you probably ever wanted to lol. Sorry about that! But it was fun writing it all out and maybe some of you can relate to pieces of it.

I’d love to read other people’s “A day in the life posts” so feel free to visit Caitlyn and participate in her linkup!

Question of the day: What’s the weirdest thing you do every day?

April BBQ Weekend

Uncategorized, Weekend Recaps 17 Responses »

Apr 292013

Hey there! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Here’s a little recap of what’s been happening around these parts…

Friday

After work on Friday, I headed to a bar called Front Page with a few of my coworkers for a beer or two. I always love Front Page’s happy hour since they have super cheap drinks and great food selections (plus a taco bar on Thursdays! Would you believe I haven’t gone to the taco bar since last summer? I did go to Front Page for a bachelorette party in November though, so at least that’s something).

Anyyyyway, the weather was beautiful so we sat outside and enjoyed a few laughs and drinks

After a couple of drinks I decided to call it a night since I had to run 11 miles in the morning. Two beers was enough for me!

Fabio left work early on Friday to head to Richmond with a few of his buddies for the NASCAR race (not that he watches NASCAR; he mostly wanted to tailgate all day haha!) and when I got home, I was so surprised to see that he had 1) unloaded the dishwasher 2) cleaned up his bed-side table (which is usually a mess) and 3) left me a cute little note!

Can you spot it in the teddy bear’s stocking? Haha! What a cutie This definitely made me smile even though I was missing him at this point.

After I found the note I whipped up a quick dinner for myself. On the menu was a tomato and chicken grilled cheese (so easy and DELICIOUS!!) and roasted brussels sprouts.

Yummm. This was a great dinner.

Afterwords I watched some crappy girl TV (a whole lot of TLC- four weddings, my strange obsession, etc. yikes!), caught up on a little blog work, and ate the remaining dregs in the carton of Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter Banana Greek Yogurt. Wow. That stuff is like crack.

Can you see my little photobomber camouflaged on the couch? Haha!

After my ice cream I crawled into bed and instantly fell asleep. It was still relatively early for a Friday night, but with such a big run ahead of me in the morning I wanted to be well-rested.

Saturday

I woke up pretty early on Saturday so I would have time to eat breakfast before my run. I don’t use any energy shots/gels/chews on my long runs (at least not right now), so I wanted to make sure to fuel up properly before heading out.

On the menu: a whole wheat English muffin with Brummel & Brown buttery spread, cinnamon, and sugar, with a banana and peanut butter on the side. Yummm.

I ate early and gave myself plenty of time to digest before I set out on my run. I also made sure to drink plenty of water.

Soon it was time for me to set out! It was a beautiful day and I was excited to get going.

The first few miles flew by like usual, and I found myself really enjoying the run. I was a little nervous to be by myself (I usually run with Fabio) but once I got going it didn’t feel any different from when we run together.

The first leg of my run was familiar to me since it’s pretty much the same route I run every week on my long run (past the Arlington Cemetary, across the Memorial bridge, by the Washington Monument) but, to accommodate my longer route, this week I had to run all the way to the Capitol building by the field where we play kickball.

It was a great route but I did have to stop at a number of lights to let cars pass by. Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all.

Toward the middle of my run I ran past the Tidal Basin and was sad to see that all the cherry blossoms are officially gone from their trees. At least the trees are lush and green now! Then I ran along the Potomac River to the Georgetown waterfront, and eventually crossed Key bridge and ran back up through Rosslyn to my apartment. Phew! Eleven miles is tough!

It was a lovely route and a beautiful day, but that didn’t make the run any easier. Although it was very difficult at times, I was so proud of myself for powering through the run by myself. Woohoo!

After stretching, showering, and resting for a bit, my friends Megan and JR came over so we could go to a BBQ in Georgetown. Megan’s cousin Kev lives right across the water in a cute house in Georgetown, and the weather was perfect for a BBQ! He had the grill fired up and Megan, JR, and I enjoyed a hot dog fresh off the grill. Yumm.

Then we played a bit of beer pong, which I’m happy to say I was pretty good at (my skills vary depending on how many beers I’ve had, haha!).

We spent the rest of the day at the barbecue and had a really great time! I’m so grateful that Megan and JR brought me along, and that Kev hosted the BBQ!

Thanks, guys!

After the BBQ, Megan and JR came over for a bit to play with Jack, before eventually heading home. I was supposed to go back out to the bars at this point, but was feeling way too tired. Ah well, next time. I watched a bit of TV before calling it a night. It was such a fun, but tiring day!

Sunday

On Sunday morning I woke up early for another run, this time for four miles.

While planning out a new running route the other day, I discovered that there are paths along the Theodore Roosevelt Island. I’m not sure how I never noticed this, since I run past the bridge to the island at least once a week, but somehow I never realized you could actually go on the island.

Seriously, how did I never know this? Haha!

Anyway, I planned a four mile route that took me all around the island, and I was so excited to try it out.

The result? I loved it! The little island is pretty secluded and since I went so early in the morning there weren’t too many people around. The whole island is covered in trails and there was a pretty monument in the center.

It was beautiful!! I cannot wait to come back here with Fabio and Jack, since I know they both will love it (especially since I think Jack can swim in the water). On the island I felt like I had left the DC area to go to a national park somewhere, excpet it’s only a 10 minute walk from my apartment! So cool.

Oh yeah, and my run went pretty well too

Hooray for a great week of half marathon training!!

(You might have noticed I switched up some of the days a bit, since Sunday was supposed to be a Rest day. Oh well! At least I got them all done).

After my run I saw Megan and JR again since they decided to get breakfast from the bagel shop up the street from me. We sat outside on a picnic blanket for a while playing with Jack while they ate their bagels. It was a lovely Sunday morning!

Soon after, Fabio returned home (YAYYY!!!) and Jack and I were so happy to see him. We caught up for a while before running a few errands, which of course included all-important things like a stop at the discount nail polish store that’s supposed to be for licensed professionals only (what…that doesn’t include me?)

$4 Essie Nail Polish!! Yayyy!

…and of course Starbucks.

I decided to try a skinny iced caramel macchiato, which was pretty darn delicious.

A little later in the evening we headed over to Megan and JR’s apartment (man, I saw them a lot this weekend, huh?) for a cookout! We brought Jack and he had a blast running around with their Westie puppy, Tully.

(They wouldn’t hold still so this is the best picture I could get! The last time they played I was able to get a lot more pictures!)

After wearing out the pups, Megan and I put a salad and a pasta salad together, while the boys grilled some steaks.

Our friend Scott was there too, so we made sure to make enough food for five people.

Yummm. Even though we thought we’d have a ton of leftovers, everything was so delicious that we didn’t have a single bite of food left! I went back for seconds on both salads, which were de-licious

It was such a fun end to the weekend!

Question of the day: Do you take fuel chews/shots on long runs? Have you been to a BBQ yet this spring?

Punta Cana Part II

Uncategorized 13 Responses »

Apr 262013

Hello there! When we last left off, I had just finished telling you all about my first day in Punta Cana. Let’s pick right up from there, shall we? #warningitslong #photodump

Friday

Friday morning I woke up bright and early before the rest of my friends to get a run in. I think they all thought I was crazy, and I was definitely the only person to bring sneakers, but I didn’t want to totally mess up my half marathon training by skipping my runs for five days.

After looking at the map of the resort and trying to plan a route, I decided simply to run along the beach. I was supposed to run four miles, so I figured that if I ran for about 35-40 minutes it would be close enough.

Once I made it to the beach, I ran along the wet sand which was a bit easier to handle than the dry powdery sand. I ran for 20 minutes in one direction, and then turned back.

It was a beautiful day and I absolutely loved running along the beach. I wish every four mile run could be this good!

So pretty!

After my run, I headed back to the hotel room to take a quick shower and wait for everyone else to wake up. At around 9:30, we all headed down to breakfast (if you want to see what I ate for breakfast – and every other meal- while on vacation, check out my What I Ate Wednesday in Punta Cana post).

After breakfast we made our way to the beach, but found it way too windy. The sand was blowing up into our eyes like crazy! Even with sunglasses on, it was pretty unbearable, so we moved over to the pool.

We spent a fun day lounging by the pool and enjoying each other’s company.

My favorite part about this trip was just being able to sit back and relax with my friends. Senior year in college, we all lived with each other. We knew everything that was going on in everyone’s life and were so incredibly close. We knew when someone had a bad day, when someone was fighting with their boyfriend, and what everyone ate for dinner (as silly as that sounds).

The best part about this trip was just being able to reunite with everyone again and get completely caught up in what was going on in their lives. We were able to talk about serious things like family issues and jobs, but also fun and silly things like awkward dating experiences. It was a blast just to be able to spend five whole days catching up with my best girlfriends.

After a fun day by the pool, we headed back to the room to get changed for dinner. Dinner on Friday night was at the Mexican restaurant!

The food was great and of course we had a fabulous time.

They even had a Dominican band come play the drums at our table!

It was a really fun experience

After dinner we headed outside of the restaurant where a DJ was guest performing at one of the bars. The hotel had hired some entertainers/dancers to get the guests involved with the DJ, and we had a lot of fun dancing and people watching.

This guy got gold glitter on us everywhere!!

It was a really fun night!!

Saturday/Sunday

The next two days were pretty similar to Friday, with the exception that the wind died down and we were able to sit on the beach (thank God!)

On Saturday I was supposed to run 10 miles, but after all the fun from Friday night I decided another four mile run was good enough.

Four miles is better than zero! It was beautiful, once again!

I even saw a pelican.

I wish I had been able to see him catch a fish!

After my run I went back to our room to shower, and then headed to breakfast with everyone else, just like on Friday.

On Saturday and Sunday, we were finally able to sit on the beach, which was absolutely stunning.

It was so beautiful; I could have sat there forever.

Of course, we didn’t ignore the pool either!

Ahhh so beautiful.

One of the days we took a water aerobics class in the pool, which was hysterical. The instructors were hilarious and made the most absurd facial expressions. We were dying of laughter the entire time and were actually able to get a pretty good workout it. Those classes are no joke!

After spending all day by the pool and beach, we would go back to the rooms, get ready for dinner, and head to the lobby for some pre-dinner drinks. This was easily one of my favorite times of the evening.

Drinks/Dinner Pictures From Saturday

Drinks/Dinner Pictures From Sunday

Since Sunday was our last night, we had an extra fun time and took a ton of silly pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:

Haha I hope you enjoyed those as much as I do!!

Monday

Monday morning eventually came and we had to pack up our stuff and leave the beautiful Dominican Republic. Our shuttle came at 10:00 am so we had just enough time for a final breakfast at the hotel before heading to the airport.

Our flight was a bit delayed (about 45 minutes) but we still arrived back in Baltimore by around 6:00 pm. I made it home at around 7:45 and had a very happy puppy and boyfriend to greet me

It was such a great trip and I am so grateful that I got to travel to such a beautiful place with so many of my best friends. Now I just need to plan our next vacation…

Question of the day: Where do you travel with your friends?

Punta Cana Part I

Uncategorized 9 Responses »

Apr 252013

A week ago today my plane was sitting on the runway waiting to take off. I had snacks in my lap, a good book on my kindle, and two of my best friends beside me. Three more of my best friends were sitting on a similar plane in New York, and we were all so excited to arrive in the Dominican Republic. Sigh…time flies so quickly.

To help elongate my vacation just a little more (ok so maybe I’m in denial that it’s over) I’m going to share the first part of my recap with you guys today. Buckle your seat belts folks, it’s going to be a long ride!

Thursday

My alarm went off at4:30 on Thursday morning, but I was so excited for my trip that I had already been awake for nearly 10 minutes. At this point I hopped in the shower, ate a quick English muffin for breakfast, and packed up a few last minute items.

Soon I got a call that my friend Megan was outside in her car, and that my other friend Britt was almost there in her cab. It was time to leave! After saying a hasty goodbye to Jack and a sleepy goodbye to Fabio (he did NOT want to wake up) I hopped in the car and we were on our way!

Traffic was light and we made it to the airport in no time. We arrived a little before 7:00 am and, since our flight didn’t leave until 9:00, we thought we had plenty of time to get through the check in and security.

We were so wrong. For some reason all the lines were out of control, probably due to sequestration flight regulation changes and increased security due to the Boston Marathon.

We wound up making our flight just in time and didn’t even have time to sit at the gate before hopping on board. Phew! We made it. (A bunch of people came on way after we had already boarded the plane and made us a little delayed. It was crazy!)

The flight was relatively uneventful and after a few hours we arrived in the balmy Dominican Republic.

The Punta Cana airport doesn’t have any gates and instead they wheel the stairs up to the plane and you get to walk down outside. Love that! The sun was shining, the weather was warm, and we knew it was going to be a great vacation

After making it through security, we received a text that our friends’ plane in New York was delayed, so we made our way to the hotel without them (which was too bad, since we were supposed to arrive within 10 minutes of each other. Oh well).

We took a shuttle to the hotel and were there in no time! We stayed at the Melia Caribe which was fabulous; I could not recommend it enough! The staff was great and the property was beautiful and quite expansive.

There was also a ton of wildlife on the property, including peacocks and flamingos.

In the past, my friends and I have had the conversation about which animal each of us would be based on our personalities and looks (we are weird). We always said that my friend Britt would be a flamingo! (I am a koala, in case you are curious). When we saw a bunch of flamingos, we made Britt go stand with them, haha!

Anyyyway, once we had checked into the hotel, we took a golf cart to our room to drop our stuff off and change into swimsuits.

Britt and I rode in the back!

At this point it was around 3:30 pm which meant we still had some time in the sun and we did not want to waste it! We quickly headed to the pool which was absolutely gorgeous.

We spent some time lounging by the pool and enjoying the sunshine before the rest of our friends arrived. Soon we heard some familiar voices from across the pool and realized that Catrina, Megan, and Vic had finally made it to the hotel! Hooray!! We enjoyed some celebratory drinks and hung out by the pool for a little while longer before heading back to the room to change for dinner.

We took this opportunity to unpack a little, which was quite funny since there were only three of us in each room and we all had so much stuff. We unpacked the shoes first.

This doesn’t even count the flip flops that each of us was wearing while we were unpacking!! Obviously I was the only one to bring sneakers haha.

Then we unpacked the jewelry…

OMG you guys. This was like heaven for us. There was so much fun jewelry to choose from! Getting dressed for dinner each night was so much fun because we got to “shop” for jewelry on the table haha. I definitely recommend doing this next time you travel with a bunch of girls!

Then we got dressed and headed to dinner! We went to the International restaurant, which I described yesterday in my Punta Cana What I Ate Wednesday post. It was great and a lot of fun!

After dinner we headed to one of the bars and enjoyed a few more drinks. It was such a fun night!

After the bar we headed over to the “disco” which was basically a club on the resort. They played a lot of good music and we had a lot of fun dancing. The best part was everything was free!

It was definitely a great start to our vacation!

I’ll be back with more of a recap tomorrow Have a great day!

Question of the day: Do you like to fly? Have you had any bad delays lately?

Back from Vacation!

Uncategorized 5 Responses »

Apr 232013

Hey folks! Guess whaaaat? I’m back!!

My trip to Punta Cana with five of my best friends was amazing and I had a fantastic time! The resort was all-inclusive so we didn’t have to pay a dime and we had great weather

I’m working on drafting some recap posts for you right now, but I have a ton of photos to share and want to make sure I’m doing the trip justice. For now, I’ll leave you with these teaser pictures

I also obviously have a lot of catching up to do at work and at home (unpacking, laundry, etc.) so I’ll be pretty busy today. Hopefully I can start getting recap posts up for you tomorrow!

Hope you’re having a great week so far!!

Question of the day: What’s your least favorite part of coming back from vacation?

For me it’s…

1. Checking work emails

2. Unpacking!

One Lovely Blog Award

Uncategorized 8 Responses »

Apr 222013

Hey guys! A few weeks ago, Anna from Anna The Apple nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award. I always enjoy doing these types of surveys and I was so flattered that she thought of me. Smile I haven’t done one of these blog award posts in a while, so it will be fun to switch things up a bit and do one again!

The rules are that I have to write seven random facts about myself and then nominate seven bloggers for the award (thinking of the seven random facts is always the hard part for me haha). Let’s get started!

1. Riding my bike stresses me out. When I bought my bike earlier this year, I admitted to you guys that I’m no professional bike rider (I think the last time I rode a real bike before this year was probably when I was 12 years old). Of course once I got back on things came pretty easily for me, but navigating the streets, traffic, and pedestrians in DC absolutely freaks me out. Sure, I can manage ok and I seem ok on the outside, but you can pretty much guarantee that the dialogue in my head is something like this: Ohmygosh-ohmygosh-I’m going to hit that woman with the stroller-why is she in the middle of the sidewalk-does she hear me coming-should I say something-I wish I had a damn bell-What do I say-Excuse me?-On your left?-ahhh-noooo-oh my gosh- oh my gosh…so yeah. Lol. Just a little confession about my inner dialogue while biking Winking smile

2. I fall asleep almost instantly. I never knew this wasn’t normal, but Fabio thinks it’s the funniest thing that I fall asleep so fast. One minute he’ll be talking to me, then I will make the decision to go to sleep and say goodnight, and then literally two seconds later if he tries to ask me something I’ll be out. It’s almost as if it’s a conscious decision on my part to fall asleep. I thought this was normal but maybe it’s not? Lol.

3. Jack is a rescue dog. People always ask me how old Jack is and if he’s pure black lab or mixed with something else. The answer? I have no clue. Fabio and I rescued him from a shelter in New York and we just got so lucky that he was such an awesome dog. At the time we were looking for a medium-size dog, and of course I wanted a black lab (since I always grew up with them) but I figured the odds of finding one at a shelter were pretty slim. Imagine our surprise when we walked into the shelter and saw Jack, who was as cute and polite as could be, and we heard that his price tag was only $20. Yepp! Bargain puppy!! Bringing him home was one of the happiest days of my life Smile I’m definitely a proud puppy momma.

4. I chew gum all day at work. This is really weird, but at work I feel like my mouth always has to be doing something (I wonder what Freud would say about that lol). I either need to have a big glass of water with lots of ice (which I also chew) or I need to have a piece of gum in my mouth. Like, at all times. I think it helps me to concentrate on my work or something, because at home I am totally fine without water or gum. Isn’t that weird? Does anyone else do this?

5. I hardly ever drive. Sure, Fabio and I use my car about once a week, but I never drive it. If we are both in the car, I’d say he drives about 98% of the time. I have no idea why this is, especially since I think I am actually a pretty good driver. For some reason I just prefer not to drive. It’s very weird. Also, we do a lot of walking/metroing/cabbing anyway, so my poor car doesn’t get all that much use. Oops.

6. I’m a little bit obsessed with the sun. You know those people who are seasonally depressed? Like in the winter they get all sad and mopey and in the summer they are a bundle of joy? While I’m sure everyone feels like this sometimes, I think I might have it especially bad. I would have to say one of my favorite activities in the world is just sitting outside in the sun with a good book. If it’s nice out and I’m stuck inside I will be the grumpiest human ever. I always angle myself to the sun even if it means being in an awkward position or facing away from a conversation (it’s true). I even looked up how much one of those “sunlight lamps” would cost on Amazon. It’s not even just about being tan; I simply love the sun. Is that weird? Maybe I was a lizard in my former life?

7. I have a huge sweet tooth. (HA! I’m sure you’re all shocked by this). In case you haven’t noticed, I almost always need a “dessert” after I eat. Lately I’ve been trying to cut back on sweets, but I still will have a small piece of fruit or something after I eat. I think it must be a mental thing- but I just love and need sweets. It’s bad, I know.

Oops!

Ok so those are my seven random facts! Hopefully you learned something that you didn’t know about me before. And now, it’s your turn! I nominate the following seven bloggers for the One Lovely Blog Award…

1. Emily @ Glitz Glam Granola

2. Hannah @ Clean Eating Veggie Girl

3. Danielle @ It’s a Harleyyy Life

4. Katie H @ Fit Butt Fabulous

5. Kaylee @ Sorey Fitness

6. Sarah @ Picky Runner

7. Meghan @ After The Ivy League

….and go!

Question of the day: Tell me something random about you!

Running Motivation from Anna The Apple!

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Apr 182013

Hello there! At this moment I am either on the plane to Punta Cana (wooo!) or I have just landed Since I won’t be able to blog while I’m away, I’ve reached out to my friend Anna to chat with you guys today about running motivation. She’s a great runner (super fast!!) so hopefully you guys will find her post helpful. Take it away, Anna!

Hi guys, I’m so pleased to be able to write a guest post for Chelsea as I’ve been a reader of her blog for quite a while now and really enjoy it. My name’s Anna and I’m from AnnaTheApple blog.

My blog is similar to others in that I love eating healthy food, experimenting with recipes and one of my biggest passions in running.

I thought I’d base this post on running and running motivation. Though I say I love running I by no means find every single run enjoyable, easy or breaking PRs every time. In fact a fair few of them have been really hard for no apparent reason, really slow or just a slog. But after focusing on running for over a year and half I’ve found ways to overcome the times when it just sucks or when I’m struggling to lace up my running shoes and get out there.

Don’t compare – first and foremost this is so important. The only person you should be comparing yourself with is yourself. There will always be other runners out there who are faster than you or can run longer distances. Who cares! Set your own pace, set your own goals. It’s a losing battle otherwise.

Plan – it might not work for everyone but I always find that planning the days I’m going to run and the distances I want to hit a week before. That way I can plan stupid things like what time I need to get up and what days I’m going to wash my hair (yep, these things matter!). But more importantly, if I’ve set my whole week out then it’s harder to rearrange stuff and more motivation to not miss out on a run/workout.

Varied – keep your workouts varied or you’ll get bored. This could mean doing a variety of different workouts, like yoga and the gym. Or, for me, this means doing different types of runs. Every week I try and do an interval run, a tempo run and a long run. That way it keeps me interested. No one wants to run the same route, for the same time at the same pace every day.

Make it fun – OK, let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that every time we work out it can be as fun as going to Disney World. But there are things that can make it more fun and enjoyable to some degree. I love listening to Podcasts on my long runs and this keeps me entertained. Having pretend races with other runners is fun too

If you find yourself dreading every singly run or workout, it isn’t working. Your heart’s not in it. You need to find something that you love (at least at times!). Sometimes I hate running, but I always know that sometime around the corner I’m going to have a kick ass run that’s going to make me feel amazing. The minute I start to dread every run I know I need to find something else.

Running gear – Though this is essentially quite superficial, I think it’s really important to like what you’re wearing when you work out. You’ve got to feel good and be happy and confident. This helps to get yourself in the right mind-set. There’s that saying “fake it to make it” and I really agree.

I love buying running gear (embarrassingly, sometimes more than normal clothes) and I like to look good when I run (read: I like to think I look good!!) It helps when I pretend I’m an elite

Goals – nothing motivated me to run more than signing up to a race. My running improved exponentially after I signed up to my first half marathon and set myself a training plan. I wanted to do well and not flounder half way round and embarrass myself. The fear of failure was definitely a motivator for me. But also when I found myself struggling in a run I would just imagine what it would be like to cross the finish line and experience that achievement. It sounds a bit nandy pandy, I admit, but I truly believe that running is just as much a psychological effort as a physical effort. You body might be good to go, but if your heart’s not in it then it’s going to be really tough.

And if all else fails: reward yourself! Whether that’s a slice of cake, a stack of pancakes, a new outfit – it’s up to you. Sometimes we need that extra incentive. And you deserve it! Don’t go crazy and eat an entire pie, but allow yourself a little bit of praise for your hard work.

How do you motivate yourself?

Do you find it a real struggle to get yourself to workout?

What’s your secret weapon to push yourself?

First Spring Weekend

Uncategorized, Weekend Recaps 3 Responses »

Apr 082013

Hey there! I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to pop in on Friday to share my Favorite Things Friday post with you all! I actually had a ton of fun things lined up to talk about, so I might just post about them tomorrow. Maybe it can be a Favorite Things Tuesday? Haha we will see how it goes!

Anyway, I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! Mine was just about as perfect as could be, and I was especially happy since the weather seems to finally be warming up (today it’s 79!! Then tomorrow will be 84, and Wednesday 88!! But then next weekend it’ll be back in the low 60s. DC weather is so strange).

Anyway, enough weather talk. Here’s a look at what I had going on this weekend…

Friday

Fridays are usually rest days for Fabio and me, but since we had kickball on Wednesday we had to rearrange our schedule a bit and get a run in after work on Friday. It was only three miles and the weather was beautiful, so I didn’t mind!

We chose our favorite three-mile route which takes us over the Key Bridge and into Georgetown. It’s always so beautiful running along the water and into Georgetown, but it leaves us with a killer hill at the end. Ugh! That hill will be the death of me one of these days.

After our run we debated whether or not we wanted to go out with friends for the night, but after having dinner with my dad on Tuesday, drinking after kickball on Wednesday, and going to a happy hour on Thursday, we were pooped and wanted to save some money. Dinner at home it is!

We couldn’t decide what we wanted to eat, but eventually I remembered seeing a recipe for lightened up sweet and sour chicken on Iowa Girl Eats this past week (which was actually a guest post from Gimme Some Oven, FYI). It looked pretty simple and we had all the ingredients so I went for it!

It came out delicious! I highly recommend this recipe if you are craving Chinese food but are in the mood for something lighter (and cheaper!)

Yumm.

We spent the rest of the evening vegging out on the couch catching up on some TV. We are finally up to season 7 of Dexter! One of these days we’ll be all caught up lol.

Saturday

First thing Saturday morning, Fabio and I set out for our long run- this time for 8 miles!

It was a beautiful day (the first of the year, it seems like) and it was absolutely gorgeous weather for running (not too hot or too cold).

Our route took us past the Iwo Jima memorial and Arlington Cemetery…

Then across the Arlington Memorial Bridge to the Jefferson Memorial, where we turned and started heading toward the Tidal Basin.

For those of you who don’t know, the Tidal Basin is the lake (I guess it’s a lake?) that is surrounded by the famous cherry blossom trees. Although this was technically the second weekend of the annual cherry blossom festival, the flowers are only just starting to come out and aren’t at their peak yet. I bet by later this week they will be beautiful!

Hello from the Tidal Basin!

Fabio and I don’t usually stop to take pictures during our runs, but it was such a nice day and we were in a scenic area, so we decided it was worth it to stop for a few seconds. I didn’t want to regret not having pictures later on!

After running around the Tidal Basin and seeing the cherry blossoms, we ran along the Potomac River by the Georgetown waterfront. It was absolutely beautiful and I couldn’t have asked for a better day for running. It was wonderful.

Our pace wasn’t great, however we did have to tackle a few steeeeep hills so it could have been worse. Not a bad run!

Once we got home, we quickly showered up and got ready to head over to a BBQ at Fabio’s coworker’s house! I had about an hour to kill before the BBQ, so I decided to whip up some chocolate chunk cookies using some dark chocolate leftover from Valentine’s Day.

I had to taste one of course (omg so good) but then we packaged the rest up for the BBQ. I cannot be trusted with cookies around the house lol!

Soon it was time for the BBQ!

Anyone spot the photobomber in the back seat?

It was a beautiful day and I couldn’t wait to spend more time outside.

When we arrived, Fabio’s coworker Jeremy, the host, had a keg, beer pong, and corn hole all set up. My kind of BBQ! Jack was able to come with us and he had a great time running around with Oscar (a boxer mix) and Eddie (a cocker spaniel).

While the dogs sniffed around (I don’t know why they look so calm in that picture; they were really rambunctious the rest of the time!), the adults had a blast playing drinking games and hanging out in the back yard.

I had a hamburger (they didn’t have any cheese?!) and then later, a hot dog. Everything was deeeee-lish.

Gotta love BBQs.

Fabio and I wound up staying until around 9:00, at which point Fabio, our DD, drove us home. When we got back I immediately drank a ton of water…I didn’t want to be hungover the next day! We spent the rest of the evening relaxing at home and watching old movies (Space Jam, what?!)

Sunday

The next morning Fabio and tackled our three mile run nice and early to get it out of the way.

Another good run out of the way!

When we got home I whipped up some Greek yogurt pancakes (with whole wheat flour) using this recipe.

Yummmm…they were so good. I like to make my pancakes small (kind of like silver dollar pancakes) so that I can eat twice as many and feel like I’m really getting something haha! Am I the only one who does that?

After breakfast Fabio and I hung out for a bit doing some chores, and then it was time to head over to my little sister’s lacrosse game!

She is number 13 on the pink team, in case you couldn’t tell

It was a beauuuutiful day, and Fabio and I had a great time sitting with my dad (and Jack) watching the girls play.

I tried to get a picture with Jack…

It only sort of worked haha!

Here I am with my mini lacrosse superstar!!

Go Nicole!!

After the game we headed to my dad’s house and decided to take our bikes for a spin We probably went about 1.5 miles and tackled another huuuuge hill (this one might even be worse than the one near my apartment!). Even though we only biked for a short time, I definitely worked up a sweat.

When we got back to the house we found that the dogs were in the pool!

I’m not sure why this surprised me since they are always swimming in the pool in the summer haha. Silly dogs!

Then it was time for dinner My dad grilled up some steaks; my stepmom made green beans, asparagus, and garlic bread; and I was in charge of roasting the potatoes. Group effort for the win!

We finished up with some turtle cheesecake, which I inhaled. So good.

After dinner we headed back home to Arlington and, after doing a bit of reading, I passed out. Literally. I was exhausted. Guess all the activity from this weekend really wore me out!

Question of the day: Is the weather nice where you live yet?

WIAW #44: Mexican Fiesta

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Apr 032013

Hey friends! Happy hump day! I’m having a pretty good day over here so far, especially compared to the other, sadder, things I’ve been talking about lately.

Today is a new day though, and the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and spring is ~~here~~ on its way (it’s still freezing here…the 10-day forecast looks pretty nice though!). Plus, I have plans to play kickball on the National Mall after work today with a bunch of friends, so I have a lot to be happy about! Gotta think positively, right?

I also want to stop for a minute to say happy birthday to my dad!! Today my old man is turning 53. Woo! Haha. Hopefully I’ll get to see him this weekend to celebrate but if not, at least I got to see him last night for dinner (more on that in a minute). I love you, Daddy! Happy Birthday!!

Anywayyy, let’s jump into today’s What I Ate Wednesday post! Thank you to the lovely Jenn, for hosting, as usual.

Yesterday was a good day of eating, albeit not the healthiest! Oh well. You gotta do the best you can without giving up the things you love, right? Right.

Glad we’re all on same page.

Breakfast

Since I am out of nearly all of my fresh fruit (except a couple apples and one lonely orange) I wanted to try something new for breakfast. I typically eat a banana along with my cereal, and the thought of a lonely bowl of Cheerios just didn’t sound that appetizing. I’m pathetic, I know.

I decided to switch things up yesterday and enjoyed a yogurt bowl! I just bought Fage yogurt (pronounced fa-yeh, who knew?) and have been pleasantly surprised by how much I like it! I usually buy Chobani or Oikos Greek yogurt, but I think Fage might me my new favorite!I just love the decadent taste which actually reminds me a lot of plain fro-yo.

I always buy plain Greek yogurt (not flavored or sweetened) because I like to use it in cooking. In order to make it more breakfasty (yes, that’s a word) I added some honey, frozen berries, and Kashi Go-Lean Crunch. Yum!! Awesome breakfast.

Lunch

Lunch was something different too! Look at me, I’m on a roll!

For dinner on Monday night, I roasted up a bunch of veggies (sweet potatoes, carrots, regular potatoes, and broccoli) and grilled a piece of chicken on the George Foreman. Then I made a “sauce” with (more) Greek yogurt, a wedge of laughing cow cheese, a good pour of salsa, and some black beans.

When the veggies came out of the oven, I tossed them in the “sauce” with the chicken. It was kind of like a Mexican potato/veggie salad I guess. I don’t know- it was kind of weird, but it was really good and Fabio and I gobbled it up!

I made enough for leftovers, so Fabio and I each had some to take to work yesterday. Gotta love that! On the side I had a sliced honey crisp apple. So good.

Dinner

A little later in the day yesterday, my dad called to say he was in Virginia for work and wanted to meet us for dinner at our favorite Mexican place, Uncle Julio’s. Since his birthday is today, we definitely didn’t want to say no, especially since Uncle Julio’s is awesome and we love their food! However, Fabio and I had a four mile run planned and we haven’t missed a single one yet, so I didn’t want yesterday to be the first day to ruin the streak.

Then I had a good idea- let’s run to the restaurant! By car, the restaurant was only about 2 miles away, but when I used the route creator tool on RunKeeper (thank you to Anna for changing my life with this suggestion a while ago) I was able to play around with the route until it was almost exactly 4 miles (it wound up being 4.28). Score!

When I got home from work, I quickly walked Jack and then threw on my running clothes. Fabio got home shortly after, changed, and then we headed out for our run! It worked out perfectly and although we arrived at the restaurant a bit tired and sweaty, I didn’t care. I was happy that we didn’t skip our run! (Also, I packed a mini perfume sample in my Flip Belt so I sprayed myself upon our arrival. Win!)

When we got there I immediately ordered a swirl, which is frozen margarita and sangria mixed together. So good!

Then we snacked on some chips and salsa, naturally!

When it came time to order, Fabio and I split my favorite: beef fajitas!!

The platter comes with plenty of steak, grilled onions and peppers, salsa, guacamole, cheese, sour cream, and of course, fresh, hot tortillas! These are soo good

I wound up having two fajitas stuffed with steak, peppers/onions, salsa, cheese and guacamole (basically everything but the sour cream). They were delicious and I was stuffed afterwords.

It was so much fun and I’m glad we were able to spend some time with my dad for his birthday without canceling our running plans! It was a perfect evening

Happy birthday, Daddy!

Question of the day: What do you get your dad (or other male figures in your life) for their birthdays????? I always struggle with this. Help!

Some Sad News

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Mar 292013

As if I haven’t posted enough depressing things this week, let’s add to the list.

My grandfather, who has had a lot of health issues in the past, is currently in the hospital. He underwent surgery this morning and seems to be doing ok so far, although the doctor warns that we are not out of the woods yet. The surgery was extremely dangerous and there are still a lot of things that could go wrong.

My mom and grandmother are already at the hospital with my grandfather, and my aunt, uncle, and stepdad are on their way down now. I will be picking up my uncle from the airport this afternoon and driving him down as well. I will likely spend the whole weekend down there and hopefully he will get better.

I am very lucky that I still have all four of my grandparents and I am very close with all of them. Although it’s awful what my family is going through right now, it will be really nice to have everyone together on Easter.

Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers!