Good to know: I still know how to hang

My cousin's future wife's bachelorette party was last night.





It's not a fanny pack, it's a holster:



"Mr Stud" has been to a lot of bachelorette parties since 2003.





The bride-to-be and her "date"



The bride's future sis-in-law, my cousin and occasional half marathon partner.



We totally rode around all night in a hot pink stretch limo. I swear.



And we're totally in our pajamas.



This morning:






Also, yesterday I realized:

1) I need to actually go out and buy new clothes. That fit and are in style. Clothing swaps are fun, but my wardrobe is looking a little dated. And because I've lost weight, I'm running out of pants that fit.
2) My legs can propel me lots of miles, but they can't take high heels anymore. Good thing I have so many pairs of cute flats.
3) I'm glad to know I can still stay up past 3am once in awhile, even when I woke up at 6am for a race. Although I'll probably be asleep by 9pm tonight.

Happy Valentines Day! Who do you love?

Borrowed from a Facebook friend: "To anyone on a public self-pity 'I hate Valentine's Day' kick, if there is one person in the entire world, whether it's family or a friend, that loves you, stop complaining. You are much more fortunate than many people out there. Valentine's Day isn't just about having a significant other; it's about celebrating love in every form, so be grateful for what and who you have in your life."

Who do I love??

The Sailor

April 21, 2007

My Parents

My Brothers

My brothers' wives

My Niece

My many besties (the non-sister-in-law edition)
Clockwise from top left:
Genevieve (and me) - best friend since we were 13
Scott and Vera - besties since high school (we often come as a trio)
(and I've known Vera since kindergarten) (and she hasn't lived in Illinois for 12 years)
Paula (and me) - bestie since 1996, she's engaged to The Sailor's best friend
Jessica and Sarah - besties from college

   

And, yes this might be cheesy, but I love all of my running friends, online and in-person! You guys are awesome and super supportive. So thank you to Kelly W, Kelly J, Amanda C, Amanda W, Kim, Erin, Sara, Kelsey, Lindy, Amy, Dan, Meg, Ali MC, and all of my F'N Runners. 

Today is the last day to enter the raffle for a swim lesson with Coach Judie! Every $5 you donate to the American Cancer Society before the end of the day = 1 entry in the raffle for a swim lesson with Judie in Lisle or Rolling Meadows! Learn more about Coach Judie: part 1 and part 2. 

Will Run for (Turkey) Bacon and (Kale) Chips

Today was my immediate family's Christmas. Will all our scheduling conflicts, my parents, my brothers and me and our significant others could not find a few hours around the holidays to gather and exchange gifts at the same time. Today was the earliest day we could all get together.

I offered to make breakfast for the occasion. I wanted something quick and easy that didn't require a ton of prep and wouldn't leave me trying to scramble 16 eggs and fry two packages of bacon all at once. I ended up making bacon-wrapped eggs in a cup, which I think I originally found on this blog but have also seen variations on Pinterest. I also made homemade kale chips and homemade tortilla chips. There was other food, but it wasn't quite as blog-exciting, so who cares.



If you've never made kale chips, they are super easy. I try to buy kale that's already cut into pieces to save time. Just dry off the kale (pat down with paper towels), put in a big bowl, drizzle a little olive oil and some salt, shake to coat all the pieces, then spread on a cookie sheet covered in wax or parchment paper (I used wax because that's all we had). Bake in the oven until the "chips" are crispy. I did 350 for 5-7 minutes I think. I still have a ton of kale leftover so I'll be making this a few more times this week. Or maybe I'll get really inspired and make my favorite soup again. We do have some sausage leftover from today, and I know we have potatoes ...



Homemade tortilla chips are also really easy. Cut corn tortillas into wedges (I did sixths), lay out on a cookie sheet, spray with non-stick cooking spray, turn them over, spray the other side and sprinkle with salt. Bake in the oven at 350. I think I did 6 minutes on one side, pulled out the sheet, flipped each chip, sprinkled that side with salt, then baked for 4 minutes more and that worked pretty well. (I wonder what else you can bake into "chips"? Besides potatoes of course.)



Moving on to the main course, the bacon-egg cups. I did half with turkey bacon (the good stuff shown above), the other half were mostly regular bacon, but I ran out and did a few with lunchmeat ham. I pre-cooked the bacon for about 5 minutes - the turkey in the oven at 350, the regular bacon on the stove so I could drain the fat. Make sure to spray the muffin tin with non-stick spray first.



After the bacon is partially cooked, assemble. I did one egg in each, topped with green onion, a mix of chopped fresh basil and fresh sage, a little piece of mozzarella (I don't think it was low-moisture but it wasn't high-moisture ... maybe medium moisture? I found it in the fridge, I think my husband bought it), and fresh grated Parmesan. This is one of those recipes where you can get creative. As we were cleaning up, my husband asked me why I didn't put kale in the egg cups. (Which surprised me, he normally has an aversion to "weird healthy food.")



The recipe I was following called for 12 minutes at 400. About halfway through I realized the oven was still at 350, so I bumped it up to 400 and added a few extra minutes. Basically, cook it until the eggs are done to you. Some of the eggs were a little bit overcooked for my preference (I like them cooked so they aren't super runny but aren't hard) but they were still delicious! You can stick a toothpick in to see if they are cooked to your liking. (The toothpicks in the photo below are to indicate which ones have no onion and were for one of my sisters-in-law.)



Meanwhile ... my "lil chef" was preoccupied with her own dinner hopes.



It was a family gathering, so time for pictures of my niece!



Big news: she has enough hair for pigtails!! She was born bald like her dad (and also like me) so even though she is 22 months old, she just now has enough hair for pigtails.



My mom wanted to see the cat in her Christmas costume. Oh boy did she hate that.



Also, this is the closet thing to dolls in the house.

I have running-related stuff to post, but I'll put that in a separate post.

This year has started off fast

I had printer trouble so this is my bib.
You were supposed to write your resolution on your bib.
My resolution is to run a marathon in 2012.

And by fast, I am referring to my overall pace so far in 2012. I've been tracking my points for the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge all holiday season, and today was the Resolution Run - virtual or in person. The minimum requirement was to run at least one mile.

I really only felt like doing one mile (it's been really windy out today, plus I raced yesterday, and um, it was New Years Eve last night ... ), so I figured I would see how fast I can do one mile. Today I was able to do it in 7:13 (plus a few seconds before I stopped my Garmin). There were some really windy spots (at the edge of a field with no trees) and that didn't include a warm up. So I might try again on a less windy day. And maybe warm up.

In the meantime, I will enjoy looking at my RunningAhead.com training log and seeing that so far the year, I am averaging a 7:15 pace. I have a feeling that's not going to last very long.

In other news, we had a lovely New Years Eve spent with friends at a local watering hole that offered free shuttle rides as part of their NYE package. Here we are waiting for the shuttle to arrive at our friends' place.

He hates having his picture taken so he rarely smiles for the camera.

And that's it for the pictures I'm posting in my blog from last night. Also, from the crazy cat lady / stalker aunt files, my niece came over today. Here she is with my cat:

Our 2011 Christmas e-card

Click to view larger

I used to do traditional Christmas cards. One year I did photo cards through Shutterfly - I made the graphic to the right to place in a Shutterfly holiday card template. I think that was from 2007, the year we were married.

Then I just bought generic cards and sent those. I always included what I thought was a witty letter updating our friends & family on what a married couple with no kids and no home ownership do all year. I tried to be funny but I'm sure my friends & family got it and rolled their eyes.

A few years ago, through a project at work, I taught myself how to make my own e-card. And I can send those for free!

Besides, without kids, does anyone really care about what we're up to? Do they really want a picture of just the two of us? (Maybe if I include the cat they would.) 

Eventually, when we have our own spawn, we will mail out photo Christmas cards, because, well, I know I love looking at pictures of other people's kids.

In the meantime ... I'm "going green."

So, I bring you our 2011 Christmas card, the third installment of our family's electronic holiday greetings:



You've probably seen all of these pictures in this blog already.

Oh ... It's winter already?

Today was the coldest day of the season. What a great day to go for a run! At 7am! (I'm forcing myself to be a morning person on the weekends for the sake of not running alone.)

Source: TooTallFritz.com (I'll let you guess which one she is)

Two long sleeve tech tees, lined jacket, tights, lined track pants, two pairs of socks, three pairs of gloves, hat, and a headband around my neck (and sometimes my face). Just enough to not be freezing but surprisingly I didn't overheat. Luckily it wasn't windy.

Four of us from a smaller running group (the Frankfort New Lenox Running Club, or as we like to call it - the F'N Runners) "crashed" a much larger (and more serious) running group's Saturday morning run.  (I don't think they minded since we know some of them ... the running community is a small world.) I ran 8 miles total (to the water dropped at mile 4 at back - ran back with a couple women who I usually run with on Monday night's with the local running store) and the other three F'N Runners did 10.

After getting back from my run, it was time to get ready to go back outside. To the Christkindlmarket in Chicago.

Gawain and Madeline

Hot Spiced Wine in a boot

SIL Melissa, niece Madeline, me

Madeline & Mark (my oldest bro)

Afterwards we warmed up with dinner at Fogo de Chao (Brazillian steakhouse). I'm no foodie, so this is my review: YUM. Their salad bar ... AMAZING. I wish I could have just spent half the price and had the salad bar all night. BUT the meat was delicious too. And I'm not even a very big meat eater.

Since I'm not a wanna be foodie, I didn't take pictures of my food, but I did take another picture of Madeline de-bundled (because I'm Stalker Aunt).

Madeline

Then we went to Marshall Field's Macy's so Melissa could buy Frangos and we could look at the tree and gawk at people who waited 3 hours for a table at the Walnut Room.

Don't forget: Give me $5 before 12/12/11 and I might just give you a FuelBelt. (Raising money for the American Cancer Society. Raffle info here.)

Lessons Learned from my Mother

Today is my mom's birthday. In her honor (even though I doubt she reads this or knows how to find it ... but maybe dad will see it and share), here are some things I've learned from my mother:

Never stop challenging yourself.
My mom has been an RN for 37 years. She earned her Masters in Nursing in the 1990s, and taught nursing classes. A few years ago, she became a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. Then, despite needing step-by-step directions for how to send an email, she earned a certificate in online teaching this year. Now she's semi-retired from nursing, still doing legal nurse consulting and will start teaching an online class next month. She never slows down. When she sets a goal, she goes after it.

Live life. 
She's gone skydiving (in the 1970s, when you didn't have to jump tandem your first time). She's been scuba-diving multiple times. (Meanwhile I get nervous in the deep end of the pool at the gym ... and I used to be a lifeguard.) When we were on a family vacation in 1998, and she saw my brother scale a rocky wall to jump off a waterfall, she didn't say "what the heck are you doing!" She said, "hey I want to do that too," and she did. The woman isn't one to shy away from adventure. Related, even when it comes to non-adventurous stuff, she doesn't take life too seriously. She loves a good joke, especially when she's the one who came up with it. Like one year when we were on vacation in Michigan, and she thought it'd be funny to pretend she was skinny dipping while everyone else is water-skiing.

Speak up for yourself. 
My mom is definitely the poster child for "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" and "you have to toot your own horn." She's not afraid to speak up, or ask a question. And you know what, she often gets what she asks for. Sometimes you just have to have the courage to ask, or the courage to point out your own achievements.

Wear sunscreen.
My mom is 61 in the photo above (she turned 62 today). She's always taken care of her skin. I think it's worked! I would much rather look like her when I'm 60 than have a tan today. (Besides, I'm a redhead, we don't tan ... I come in pasty and burn, that's about it.)

Shop clearance and resale, and then hoard clothes. 
My husband looks at my closet and complains that I have too much stuff. Then I point out that my mom has clothing and shoes in almost every single closet in our house (not mine obviously ... there's no room). She has amassed quite a wardrobe, and I'm pretty sure 100 percent of it is from clearance racks and resale stores.


Don't forget: Give me $5 before 12/12/11 and I might just give you a FuelBelt. (Raising money for the American Cancer Society - in honor of my mom, in an indirect way. Raffle info here.)

Thanksgiving ... TIME FOR PIE. Which I'll run off with strangers.

Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

I love how I'm 29 but my parents still have to document whenever I'm cooking.
Making Artichoke Spinach Dip Stuffed Mushrooms. Recipe.

Yup, I'm a dork.

The mushrooms were a hit. Also, any leftover filling is good (uncooked) with tortilla chips.

The place cards were turkeys made from my niece's handprint. They also had magnets on the back.
Also my sister-in-law is only a few craft projects away from being the next Martha Stewart.

My brother Mark (one of the hosts) is ready to get down to business.

Cuddling with my niece after dinner.
Her shirt said "Everyone is Thankful for ME!"
As the only grandchild and niece or nephew in our immediate family, yes, that is very true.

Triple-layer chocolate cake, pumpkin pie!!!!! and wildberry pie

The Sailor made triple-layer chocolate cake from scratch. His best one yet! :)

"She's part Texan."

This morning, instead of shopping (I never shop on Black Friday anyway, unless it's at a resale store), I got up early and met up with some other lady runners for a 9.5 mile run at Waterfall Glen. FINALLY. I keep hearing about Waterfall Glen, I'm glad I finally had a chance to check it out. It was a nice trail, although some parts had zero shade - something to keep in mind when summer rolls back around. Also FINALLY in the sense that I FINALLY dragged my lazy butt out of bed early on a day off to meet up with a group for a run. And even though we were running for 97 minutes, it went really fast! And not just because we ran faster than I would have if I were running alone.

Post-run photo taken on Amanda's phone by super fast dude in short shorts.
But they are always in short shorts. Source: TooTallFritz.com.

Of course our group was one-third blogger. In the white shirt is Amanda, and Kelly is in the front, second from right. And I'm in the blue top/navy blue jacket.

And as if that wasn't enough, I went to a 1.5 hour Tribal Belly Dance workshop tonight. Actually, it felt good. I guess there is something to "cross training" and using different muscles. Maybe tomorrow I'll even go to the gym and swim a few laps! My legs could use a break.

How did you spend your Black Friday? 

P.S. I'm still accepting donations for my Active Bands giveaway :)