Foodie Penpal Interrupted

It’s foodie penpal time again!  Can we talk again about how much I love this little (or not so little – Lindsay has over 1,000 people participate every month) monthly project / box of awesomeness in the mail?  Oh, I already did that?  Well, my love for this idea it hasn’t changed one bit in a month 🙂

This month, I sent a box to Erin at Divatastic Gladiator.  Go check out her blog – her recipes consistently make my mouth water and my tummy rumble.  And she’s so nice – thanks Erin for some fun email back and forth this month!  The box I received came from Elena at The Jittery Pen.  Shortly after receiving the assignments I got an email from Elena with very thoughtful questions – not just allergies, anything I didn’t like, etc., she also asked about my hobbies, if anyone (human or otherwise) might be sharing my treats, and what my favorite books are.  And she clearly considered my answers – putting together a box that very much reflected my tastes and those I share with!

Unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me find the pictures I took of the awesome box she put together.  I’ve taken pictures of a hockey game and my nephew’s birthday since then, and have all of those, so my only guess is they somehow got deleted amidst fast moving hockey players and a busy 1-year-old.  Which is decidedly tragic, because I was over the moon when I opened up this box.  And since I’ve eaten almost everything, taking more pictures is futile.  I do, however, have pictures of my furry family members’ favorite part of the box – two adorable treats for my crazy pups!  T helped me snap a few quick iPhone pics before they devoured the treats, and I think they capture the excitement quite well:

Adorable Treats!

CAN WE HAVE THEM NOW?!

Trying To Be Patient

For the humans in the house, Elena included an assortment of Valentine’s – themed goodies.  While I didn’t literally jump up and down, my excitement mirrored that of the 4 legged set in the house.  They included a delicious granola with dark chocolate and dried red berries (YUM!), white chocolate peanut butter from Peanut Butter & Company (I used to love to go there when I lived in NYC and get The Elvis), salsa made in her hometown (I adore salsa and this local product was delicious!), and a yummy chocolate bar.  I feel like I’m forgetting something but unfortunately without the pictures I can’t quite remember.  Bottom line is, though – this box was awesome!  Thank you Elena!!

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In case you’re interested in participating, here are some details about the Foodie Pen Pal program – you can sign up at http://www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/ and here’s a little more detail on how it works!

• On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
• Foodie Penplas is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

 

Annabelle’s Valen-Birthday and Double Digits Fueled by Whoopie Pies

Valentine’s Day is also my sweet Annabelle’s birthday.  Technically, we don’t actually know if it’s her birthday, but we brought her home from the Nashville Humane Association on February 14^th three years ago so Valentine’s Day has also become her default birthday.  And it’s perfect for this little daddy’s girl!  And honestly, T and I generally have a nice dinner on Valentine’s Day but we don’t make a bit deal out of it, and presenting Annabelle (and Cullie) with Frosty Paws (doggie ice cream) is just as exciting as roses and chocolates!

 

Give me Frosty Paws!

mmmmmmmm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love you Annie Girl!  Though Cullie may begrudge his spot on the chair that you stole, our family wouldn’t be the same without you!  Yep, I’m a total cheesy puppy dog mama 🙂

My other favorite part of Valentine’s Day?  This lovely package that showed up on my door:

 

Pure Deliciousness

Until meeting my husband – and more specifically, my husband’s New Englander grandparents – I had never heard of whoopie pies.  And boy was I missing out.  Nana Jones makes all kinds of amazing goodies – the best bread, cinnamon rolls, and baked beans – but whoopie pies are her piece de resistance in my opinion.  These humble looking treats are nothing short of amazing.  Fluffy cake sandwiches, creamy filling in the middle….heaven.  T’s parents (hi Peggy and Pop!) sent us a box for Valentine’s Day and all 6 didn’t last long.  I may or may not have eaten 2 on Saturday following my first double-digit run since November.  Incidentally, that run went surprisingly well.  I just might put up a decent (for me) 13.1 showing on March 9^th.  We’ll see!

 

Speed Work on the Treadmill …. Who Knew?

It could be enjoyable, that is.

Last summer, I made a pretty shocking discovery.  Apparently, I love the track.  Another who knew.  I never ran track in high school and really never considered running around in circles endlessly.  A little place called Fleet Feet and their speed session changed my tune though.

Anyway, Last week, I even went so far as to find a random high school track for my track party of one.  This week, I was pumped to run some more 400s, but it was decidedly nasty and rainy outside, and the random small town I’m in is not somewhere that’s encouraging me to explore too far past the Hampton Inn, though I did discover an awesome hole in the wall Mexican spot.  They raised an eyebrow at my lululemon clad, semi-sweaty party of one last night, but the fajitas and margs were delicious.  (As you can tell, my work travel is less than glamorous.)

Anyway, I found myself on the treadmill for tonight’s workout and it was unexpectedly amazing.  Other than freaking the girl doing a walk/jog combo next to me out whenever I cranked up the speed, I was shocked at how good it felt and how quickly it went by.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take the oval any day, but good to know the treadmill isn’t ALWAYS torture, and go me for getting speed work in!

Now off to the Olive Garden down the street.  Like I said, glamorous travel is my MO….

Road Warrior Training Success!

I know oh so many people travel for work and stick to a training plan at the same time, so the fact that I’ve managed it for a couple of weeks now isn’t some groundbreaking accomplishment in the grand scheme of things.  And when you consider my mileage, it’s definitely not groundbreaking.  For me though, what I’ve done this week is.  For some reason the whole “literal” in Literal B goes out the window when it comes to training plans + work stress + travel.  The fact that I’ve gotten away with skipping workouts in the past for a week at a time probably doesn’t help.  But not so this year (or ok, at least this 2 weeks).  I’ve gotten realistic, forgiving of myself when it just can’t happen, and determined to make this training cycle count.  (Also, my previous goals may not have been stretches if I got away with so much time off.  That changes this year too.)

Last night, that meant four boring miles on the treadmill.  But I did it, and got caught up on celebrity         gossip courtesy of Access Hollywood while I was at it.  Win-win.

Today was a different story.  It was a gorgeous day and I was determined to run outside, but very unsure as to where that might happen.  A 40 minute tempo was on the schedule, but I had skipped a 6 x 400 workout last week because of freezing temperatures and was dying to get back on the track.  It’s been awhile, and I missed the soothing horror of the oval.  It hurts, but I love completing a prescribed workout and the satisfaction of hitting my goals every 400 meters.  Work’s been tough and ambiguous lately.  I needed some concrete success.

Enter the Google.

Search #1: local college.  Beautiful baseball and softball complexes.  Recently updated gym.  No track.

Search #2: Local High School.  I drove in and first saw the tennis courts to the left.  Tennis team in what must be early season workouts on a gorgeous unusually warm day.  Major nostalgia from this once mediocre junior tennis player.  I drove around the beautiful school hunting for the track – this place was nice, no way they didn’t have one, and finally found it tucked behind the baseball fields.  Girls lacrosse practice was still going on (a recent phenomenon in the south – I barely knew what the sport was in high school) and there were some kids milling around the track. I hesitated.  Would someone kick me off?  I quickly decided all of this work would not go to waste and got out there.  After all, I apparently look 22 so maybe I could be mistaken for a high schooler?  (As a side note, one day I know I’ll appreciate this, but right now I hate it – trying to get hospital executives to take you seriously when instead they want to ask you about the job market for recent grads because their son is about to graduate?  Not cool when you’re 31 and 10 years into your “career” rather than someone who has just gone through that torture.)  Anyway.  I got the job done.  6 x 400, all right around 1:30.  Except for the last, which was about 6 seconds slower after almost getting to the point of nausea at the end of #5.  Hurts so good.

Two weekday workouts in unfamiliar places.  WIN!

In other news, I set up a Chicago Marathon countdown using this cool countdown app.  That’s right, Chicago Marathon it is.  T, hear that?  PLEASE try not to schedule any hockey games the weekend of October 13^th, ok?  248 days, friends.  This is happening!

Here we go! In 8 months…

I HATE Feeling Guilty

(ARGH thought this posted last night.  Apparently not!  But hey, two in one day!)

And these suckers do a GREAT job of making me feel guilty. I mean, I know I’m not the most earth friendly person, but I do recycle and try to be somewhat energy conscious, I bought a front loading washer and those suckers are supposed to save water, right?  Anyway, isn’t part of the pleasure of staying in a hotel that you can throw your towel on the floor if you want to and not have to worry about it?  

In other news I rocked 4 boring miles on the treadmill.  Boring, but I did it and am keeping myself on track for the week.  Can’t wait for a temp run on said treadmill tomorrow night, woo hoo!

Night y’all 🙂