30 by 30 - Updated

Half marathon number 24 is coming up this weekend, so wanted to do a quick update on my 30 by 30 running goal.  

I have 2 tentative races for numbers 28 and 29 now included.  My friend Pam and I are seriously considering doing the Wine and Dine and I think I am going to do the Philadelphia Half in November.  It's close and easy and gives me an excuse to eat all I want on Thanksgiving (it's the Sunday before hand).

24 - New Jersey Half Marathon (5.6.12)
25 -Brooklyn Half Marathon (5.19.12)
26 - 
27 -Virginia Beach Half Marathon (9.2.12)

28 - Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon (11.10.12) - TENTATIVE
29 - Philadelphia Half Marathon (11.18.12) - TENTATIVE
30 - Disney World Half Marathon (1.12.13)

A full race report on New Jersey will come on Monday!

Craft Day: Organizing all those wedding invitations

I don't know about everyone else, but I seem to be gathering quite a collection of 'save the dates' and wedding invitations.  I am so happy for all my family and friends and I can never seem to part with them.  They have been scattered all over my apartment - some on the fridge, some on shelves, some on coffee tables.

I wanted to do something to organize them so I could keep them all together.  And I swear I saw this on pinterest and pinned it.  But when I went looking this past weekend for it, I could not find it.  So, I just decided to make something my self.

Nothing too fancy, but just something simple to hold them all together.

Step 1
Gather the necessary supplies: hole punch, craft ring and invitations/save the dates.  Can't find craft rings in your store?  Look in the cross stitching section - that's where I found mine.

Step 2
Punch holes in the same corner of each of the invitations

Step 3
Add all the invitations on to the hook and you're done!

Hair

A couple of weeks ago, I did a big thing - cut 10 inches off my hair!

I had been wearing it long for a while and was thinking about cutting it off and donating it, but I was planning on waiting a while to do it.  However, the week before I cut it, it was driving me crazy.  Absolutely crazy.

So instead of getting a trim, I had 10 inches cut off!  I will be donating it to Beautiful Lengths which partners with the American Cancer Society to make wigs for cancer patients.

my ponytail post cut

Two for Tuesday

This week's Two for Tuesday is something new and something old - both of which I have been using a lot lately.

Up first...

My something new - Gym Pact app.  This is a great free app I recently discovered.  Once you download the app, you log in and commit to going to the gym a certain number of days.  And then you commit a dollar amount you'll pay if you don't go.  If you make your pact, they don't charge you.  If you miss, they charge you the amount you committed for each day you missed.  And then those who made their pacts get paid out by the money those who missed paid.  So you are actually getting paid to go to the gym.  It's not a lot each week, but enough to make me go!

And then..

My something old - Vectra spray for waterproofing.  I first got this a couple of years ago at a leather store.  It is the greatest waterproofer ever.  Seriously.  It really does protect your shoes for years to come.  And not just shoes - everything.  I've used it on purses, belts, anything.  Since I just had a little shopping spree at DSW it was time to break out the Vectra again.  Want my purchases to stay like new as long as possible.

Book Review: My Booky Wook

I just finished My Booky Wook by Russell Brand.  I was really looking forward to this book.  I like Russell Brand and think he's really funny - one of my favorite movies of all time is Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  I don't know what I was expecting from this book.  I think based on what he does and his humor, that I was expecting it would be funnier.  Brand's definitely had a rough life before her really got big so, understandably, the undertone of this book was not super lighthearted.  Either way, I just couldn't get into it.  I kept waiting for it to get funnier, but it just never did for me.  Certain moments had humor to them, but there were no points at which I truly laughed.  I didn't hate it, it just wasn't what I thought it would be and definitely does not make my list of favorite books.

Closet Organization

While attempting to put away my new DSW purchases, I finally admitted it was time to clean my closet a up.  I tend to just throw my shoes in a pile when I get home and then am forced to dig through to find the pair I want.  It's definitely annoying and I tend to just wear whatever is on top forgetting about the rest of my shoes.

I do want to buy some shelves/shoe racks for my closet but until I do, this will have to do!  Finally able to see all the shoes I have and use them all.

(PS - Aren't my Syracuse slippers awesome??)

DSW...or what I hope heaven looks like

So in the past 2 weeks, I have spent some serious time in DSW.  Once when I was home and once this past weekend.  The original trip when I was home was for black flats.  My current ones are falling apart.  They are at least 4 years old and barely stay on my feet anymore.  I did find some very cute black patent leather Steve Madden flats.  While there, also saw some perfect for summer wedges by Lauren by Ralph Lauren.  Don't know about you, but I absolutely love wedges.  They give you height but are still very comfortable.  Am thinking this pair will look adorable with a pair of skinny jeans (including the super summery gray ones I from the Gap I posted about in this weeks Two for Tuesday).

Super cute, right?

Of course, when I got home on Monday, I had a $10 off coupon for DSW.  Can't let that go to waste, right?

So, after the gym on Sunday morning, I stopped by the brand new DSW in Manhattan on 34th St.  Just opened a couple months ago.  This was my first visit.  3 floors of glorious shoes.  Seriously.  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  When I die, I hope heaven looks like this DSW and I can have all the shoes I want for free.

After thoroughly scouring the store (plus the clearance racks, I love their clearance racks), I settled on 2 pairs.  The first a great pair of pewter sandals by Seychelles.  Super pretty and I think will be a staple this summer.  My second pair were some Sperry's.  I have been wanting a pair for a while.  I actually looked when I was there last weekend, but they were out of 7's.  I've looked a couple of times for them, but the 7's are always sold out.  So, I was pretty stoked to find the exact pair I wanted in 7's.  Couldn't resist - they even have pink plaid as the fabric on them.  Another pair I think will be a staple this summer.

Adorable, right?  I couldn't resist.

Going to attempt to not go to DSW again for a while!

New blog title

So, I am thinking it's time for a new blog title.  The current title was from years ago when I used this blog to document my marathon training and fundraising with Team in Training for my family and supporters.  Since then, I'm still running and training, but now the blog as turned into something different (still about running but more about travel, food, city life and other things going on in my life).

It's tough because so many names are taken, but I do already have a couple going through my head.  While I ponder those over, I am open to suggestions!

Wandering: West Village

The weather this past weekend was still a little chilly (where did the warm weather go?), but never the less, Tess and I got out for some wandering.  Let me explain.  A couple of months ago (late last summer actually), my friend Tess (who writes her own great blog)and I met for some delicious cinnamon buns in the East Village.  It'd been a while since we hung out and wanted to catch up.  Outside of the first stop at the cinnamon buns shop (Jane's Sweet Buns - which were delicious btw), we had no actual plans.  Instead, we ended up wandering around the EV making stops at Three Cups, DBA and lastly, momofuku noodle bar (which was AMAZING).  Since we had so much success at the last wandering, we decided to tackle another neighborhood this time.  The West Village.

Stop #1: Meatball Obsession

Stop number one was at Meatball Obsession.  It's brand new (literally, just opened last Wednesday) and a pretty simple concept.  It's a walk-up window and they serve the meatballs in a cup.  Makes for pretty great wandering food (unless you are Tess who orders 2 cups).  I got the Turkey Meatball with the Parma topping.  The Parma topping consists of Pancetta, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and some fresh herbs.  It comes in a cup with sauce and a big slice of bread.

Look at that pancetta.  Yummy.

I enjoyed mine.  I thought the turkey was moist and nicely seasoned.  The sauce was also pleasantly flavored and the toppings delicious (who doesn't love crispy pancetta?).  I wish there had been a bit more sauce because once I finished the meatball and wanted to dip my bread in the sauce there wasn't enough left for the whole slice.  Tess got the Beef meatball with the Parma topping and a pork sausage with the Genoa topping (fresh herbs, toasted pinenuts, extra virgin olive oil and pecorino romano).  I tasted both of Tess's selections and really enjoyed the Pork Sausage meatball.  Tess has also been to The Meatball Shop (which I have not tried yet, so I can't compare) and while she liked these, she did tell me she enjoyed the Meatball shop ones better.  I'll have to try it out soon to be able to declare a winner myself.

Despite the way it looks, I DID NOT lick the cup (although I thought about it).

Stop #2: Street Fair!

Next we moved south on Sixth Ave, again, with no real purpose in mind.  While wondering, we ran into a street fair along Waverly Ave.  This was my first street fair of 2012.  I always enjoy street fairs.  There is typically some delicious street food on site.  Since we had just eaten meatballs, weren't looking for food (plus I was pretty full).  However, I did have room, and clearly needed, something sweet.  We found the Sweet Chef Southern Bakery.  Tess bought some pies for a dinner she was going to afterwards and I got a mini pecan pie for later.  I also grabbed a german chocolate cookie to eat then.  I've never had a german chocolate cookie before, but I love the cake.  It was good.  Soft and perfectly cooked.  Personally, I would have liked more chocolate, but it was still good.

Cookie time

Pecan pie (eaten later)

Stop #3: GMT Tavern

After the street fair and stocking up on sweets, we stopped in at the GMT Tavern at Bleecker and Laguardia.  We were just looking for a place to sit for a bit and this looked nice.  I'm not going to waste too much talking about this place (I'll explain why in a couple of sentences).  We both ordered bloody mary's to start.  They were decent.  The problem came when we went to pay.  Apparently their credit card machine wasn't working.  It's annoying, but happens.  But my problem was the bartender.  She could have cared less.  Just swiped the cards, said it didn't work and then asked for cash.  After both of us explained we didn't have cash on us, she just shrugged her shoulders and said there were ATMs on the corner.  No 'I'll get my manager, see if we can fix it'.  She then told us it had been happening all day.  Maybe you should tell people when they sit down that your credit card machine isn't working before they order food.  Anyways we found an ATM and paid, but didn't leave a tip.  I have no qualms about it.  She was rude and completely unhelpful.

Stop #4: Popbar

After the crappy-ness that was GMT Tavern, we shaked it off with a walk to Popbar for some gelato.  Popbar has gourmet gelato on a stick (like a popsicle) and toppings.  Neither Tess or I had ever been to it before.  I had hazelnut gelato dipped in dark chocolate with coconut flakes on top.  Tess got raspberry sorbet with white chocolate and coconut.  I really liked mine.  The dark chocolate paired with the hazelnut was a good combination.  It was delicious, but expensive for a popsicle ($5 bucks a pop), so not sure how often I'll be having it.  Something to check off the list though!

Look at all those pops!

Excellent choice

After Popbar, Tess needed to head to Brooklyn for her dinner party and I headed home.

Not sure where we'll head next, but I'm it'll involve food and drink!

Two for Tuesday

Attempting to start a recurring post.  This will be pretty straightforward.  Just 2 things that I am currently into.  Should be pretty simple to get up every Tuesday (haha, let's see how that goes).

Up first....

These gray skinny jeans from Gap (although I will be pairing them with different shoes).  They are lightweight and cropped.  Perfect for summer with some sandals or wedges.  Can't wait to wear them!

...and second

The RMS Titanic.  I know - a weird thing to be "into" right now.  I don't know why, but I am so interested in learning more about the Titanic.  The 100th Anniversary of the sinking was this week and there have been lots of specials about it on TV.  I currently have 5 specials saved in my DVR to watch, including a 4 hour mini series by Julian Fellows (the same man who does Downton Abbey, which I also love).

Montreal Marathon

It's official.  I am all registered for my marathon this year.  Took some time to find one as I have 3 weddings in September/October so had limited weekends.  Will be running the Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon on September 23, 2012.  More details about the race can be found here.

Registering for a marathon is always weird feeling.  It's exciting to finally make the decision and pull the trigger.  But it's also slightly terrifying because it is 26.2 MILES.  And just because I've done it 8 previous times does not mean it makes it any easier.  Because it doesn't.  Trust me.

But now it's done.  Montreal.  9.23.12.  26.2.  Bring it on.

Only 22 weeks and 5 days.

Citrus Pork Tenderloin

I made a delicious pork tenderloin this weekend.  I typically don't make pork.  Not sure why, we definitely ate pork when I was growing up (usually chops) but I can't even remember the last time I made it at home.

I used a recipe I found on Pinterest, but made some changes (love Pinterest!).  One of the things I loved about this recipe was the handful of ingredients: salsa, cut pineapple, pork tenderloin, olive oil and lime.  Gotta love 5 ingredients.

First combine the salsa and pineapple.

Next rub olive on the pork tenderloin and top with the pineapple-salsa mixture.

Pop in the oven for 40 mins at 425.  Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

Squirt lime over top before serving.  I served mine along side some Near East Sun Dried Tomato rice.  So easy and delicious!

Citrus Pork Tenderloin (adapted from allrecipes.com)


1 cup salsa
1 20 oz can of cut pineapple
2 pork tenderloins (about 1 lb each)
olive oil
1 lime


1.  Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Stir the salsa pineapples in a small bowl.
2.  Place the pork into a shallow baking pan. Rub the pork with the oil. Pour the salsa mixture over the pork.
3.  Bake for 40 minutes or until the pork is cooked through. Remove the pork from the pan and let it stand for 10 minutes. Squirt with lime and enjoy!

We all have bad days....

...I may have eaten this as my dinner tonight (I did eat some bagged salad first). Sometimes it just happens.

New 5K PR

So this past weekend, I ran the Bunny Hop 5K in my hometown.  I was planning on running it pretty easy.  However, a funny thing happened on Saturday morning.  I did not run it easy.  At the same time I didn't run it very hard either.  It was a pretty flat course and since it was so small (like 76 runners small) the course was not crowded.  It did seem to wind back and forth a bit which was annoying, but doable.  Wasn't trying super hard, so imagine my surprise when I passed the 1 mile mark in about 8 minutes.  Once I saw that, I didn't try to push myself too much, just kept a steady pace.  Felt pretty good for the entire time.  I wouldn't say it was very easy, but I definitely wasn't trying crazy hard.

Finishing time: 24:31, pace: 7:54

New PR by 2 minutes, 19 seconds.  Yay!