Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras season is almost over. I don't have any big love affair with the season but I do like king cakes & I've determined that my most favorite thing about Mardi Gras is all of the king cake flavored things. I've mentioned the king cake cake balls from Brou-ha-ha. They are really better than any king cake I've ever had. Then there's the king cake cheesecake from Cheesecake Bistro. I think it may be my favorite king cake concoction. The other night Dean & I went to Fat Cow. I had a Groupon that was going to expire. They have good burgers but I saw they had a wedge salad & I do love a good wedge. I decided to have that & add some grilled chicken.

It was delicious!!!! When we ordered I saw a large sign that said King Cake Shakes are here. HUH????? Have I mentioned how much I love a good shake? Haven't had one in forever because I made the mistake of looking up calorie content on a Chic-fil-a chocolate shake. Fat Cow doesn't have one of those shake machines like the fast food joints. They actually mix them by hand & use real ingredients. Hmmmm. Once I was almost through with my salad I told Dean "I'm going to need one of those shakes". It was soooooo freakin good.

Not a great pic but I took this in the truck because I wanted a picture before I ate it. Cute huh? I love sugar crystals. I've added this to my list of Mardi Gras things I must have every season.

Tomorrow night I'll be having king cake bread pudding. I saw on Facebook that Roberto's has it. Earlier in the week Dean texted me a picture of it. I thought for sure he'd gone for lunch & had gotten me a piece to go. I was wrong. A vendor brought a bunch to his office. Then I thought he was going to bring it home to me. I mean why would he send me a picture of it knowing I've been wanting to try it??? I was wrong. He was eating it because - and I quote - "It was still warm ". He did follow that up with we'll go soon so you can have a piece. So, soon is tomorrow night after the LSU game. My mouth is already watering!!

Toodles!

Happy Tuesday!

I haven't blogged since Thursday. Why? That's easy. There's absolutely nothing to say. I started feeling bad towards the end of last week with sinus & allergy problems. From the time I got home from work Friday to the time I got up for work Monday I didn't do much more than lay on the sofa. I slept a good bit & caught up on the DVR - Only 65 House Hunters to go!!! I finally started feeling better yesterday. There was a lot of this involved.

I always say I could never be a drug addict because I cannot stand the way medicine makes me feel. All day yesterday I had a sinus meds hangover.

So since nothing exciting is happening, I'll leave you with some of my favorite things I've seen on FB & Twitter recently.

One of my favorite verses.


The Fitness Challenge is winding down. I've got a lot of ground to cover but I'm determined to get it done. Totally shouldn't have taken a rest day yesterday.

Hope y'all are having a good week!

Toodles!

The 15K that wasn't.....

After getting to bed at 1:30 am Saturday morning & not sleeping all that great I had to get up at 7:30 because I had a race to run. I'd signed up for the Mardi Gras Mambo weeks ago. Everything had been going fine until last weekend when I ran 8 miles. Around mile 5.5 my foot started to hurt. It felt like the tongue of my shoe was rubbing my foot. I figured no biggie, keep running & it'll be fine once I take the shoe off. Yeh, not so much. I limped around for a couple of days & Thursday night I put my shoes on & ran around in the house to see how it felt. All was good! Not perfect but I could run.

The Mardi Gras Mambo also has a 10K so I thought worse case scenario I'll just run it. Well, I had to make the decision pretty early during the race because of the turnoff. That wasn't a problem because the foot was bothering me. Nothing awful but definitely not right.

I  spoke of the dreaded overpass that were part of the course for my Half Marathons. Twice for the last one. I'm not really sure what it is about this overpass that it's on EVERY race route but you had to go over it twice in this race too. Once at the beginning & once close to the end. NOT. A. FAN.

Around mile 5 the foot was hurting. Not just uncomfortable. I was thanking God that I hadn't been stupid & tried to run the 15K. I had high hopes of less than an hour finish. Yeh, that didn't happen. Although, looking back at my training times I've never done a 10K that fast. As much as I hate that stupid overpass I talked myself through it the second time. I was not going to let that stupid thing get the best of me. I was not going to walk either. A lot of people were walking but I kept telling myself that I'd be finished faster if I kept running. My foot actually felt better running uphill.

At mile 5.6 I thought I was going to have to stop. I was in serious pain. I kept running. After I realized under an hour wasn't happening I decided my goal was under 1:07. As I got close to the finish line I knew I could make it & I wanted to be finished so bad I sped up. Well, there was a chick next to me & when I sped up so did she. I was thinking to myself "Chick, I'm not racing you, I'm just trying to get finished because I'm in pain". She beat me. I wanted to say "Congratulations, you beat a 40 yr old with a gimp foot" but I didn't because that would've been snarky & I seriously didn't care. I was finished. YAY! My official time was 1:05:55.

I now have 3 medals!!! Who would've ever thought?!!?

I'm going to do some research on how they measure a course. When I train I have my phone for my music & watch for distance. My watch mileage is always less than what the phone says & I always go by my watch. The last 2 races my watch has said I went further than the actual race.

It's been brought to my attention that some people don't know what all the numbers on the watch mean. Shout out Kerri!! So I'll explain......

So the 6.35 at the top is the mileage I ran, 9:02 AM - well, that's the time. 1:06:38 is the time it took me to run the 6.35 mi. - My watch time is different from my official race time because I started it before I crossed the starting line & it was a bit after I finished when I stopped it. The 175 with the heart by it is my average heart rate during the run. That's a little higher than normal for me & I attribute that to the pain I was in. My watch has a chest strap that monitors your heart rate. 620 c is the calories I burned during the run & the big 10:30 was my average pace per mile.

After the race I limped over to the post race party & had some jambalaya & king cake cake balls. YUUUMMM! Then it was home to get ready for our Godchild's birthday party.

He had a Lego cake.

It tasted as good as it looked!

Lane opening his gifts.

We were able to go to Mass after the party. I was so grateful that I wasn't going to have to get up so early Sunday morning. After Mass we were going to dinner & we decided to go to Fleur de Lis & have pizza. It's so good but normally it's hard to get a table & evern harder to get pizza. We walked in & grabbed a table & were promptly told, an hour - an hour 10 mins. for pizza. We were there, I'd already almost injured my foot more in their lovely gravel parking lot, we were staying. I decided I needed a Dr. Pepper.

They have the cute little 8 oz. bottles. These remind me of when I was a kid. My great aunt owned a music store & she had a Coke machine in the store that only had these little bottles in it. She would always open it & let us have drinks. It's also a great way to limit my DP intake. When you serve bottles, there's no such thing as free refills so I just stuck to one. The pizza was delicious!!

Sunday I had plans to go with Dean to the LSU Baseball game. The season opener was Friday night. In light of my injury & the fact that walking was difficult I decided that going up & down stairs at the game probably wasn't a wise idea. Not to mention that I was tired & feeling too lazy to put on makeup. I stayed home & iced my foot, read,  watched TV & did some laundry. Exciting stuff. Our friend Matt that is a former Athletic Trainer said that it's highly likely my foot issue is tendinitis. I concur because I'm the queen of tendinitis. Advil & ice are always his advice for that.  I'm happy to report my foot feels good. Not good enough to run but good enough that I'm not limping all over the place anymore. I was able to do some burpees last night. Gingerly, but I got them done so I think I'm on the mend. I hope so because I want to run a St. Patrick's Day 5K.

Toodles!

Snoop!

Friday night was a night I'd waited a long time for. I finally got to see Snoop Dogg in concert!

Dean was not at all interested in seeing Snoop so that's how I came to spend Valentine's Day with my 21 year old neighbor, Anna. Dean does not share my love for Gangsta Rap. Last time Snoop was in town Anna went. I wanted to go but it was a Wednesday night & Dean was worried about the thug factor. Let's be honest, Snoop doesn't have the best of reputations. But the past is the past & he hasn't been in trouble for years, he's been married to the same lady for years too. When talking about Snoop I like to refer to the pic of him & Martha Stewart that was floating around Facebook awhile back. It said be careful of being judgemental - only one of those people is a convicted felon. Makes you think right? Well, Anna assured me after the last concert that the thug factor was zero. I vowed then & there that if came back to Baton Rouge I was there. To think I almost missed it! I didn't find out until the week before that he would be in town. We got our tickets Monday & Monday evening it was sold out.

Fast forward to Friday. The show "starts" at 9:00. Anna told me that wouldn't happen. We decided to leave home about 9:00. I was so scared I'd miss him. The good news is I didn't miss him & we got an awesome spot. The bad news is we stood in that awesome spot for 2 1/2 hours before Snoop came on. There was a DJ that was ok but he had serious issues with his ex girlfriend. Bitter, Party of 1!

Come to find out Snoop was playing in the Celebrity Basketball Game at the NBA All Star festivities in New Orleans before the concert.

Finally!
Me & Snoop! Not the best pic but it was a dark room & there were a lot of lights on the stage.
Fun fact: The big black X on that hand means that person is at least 18 but not 21. See, here in Louisiana for years the drinking age was 18. Then sometime in the 90's things changed. The drinking age became 21 but you could still go in most bars at 18, only you get a big X on your hand so you're not served any alcohol.
I put a lot of thought into what I was wearing to the concert. I should've just put on my comfy running tights & called it a night. There was someone there in her pj's.
Another fun fact: Snoop is 6'4". He's also very thin.
You can't tell in the pics but his mic was all blinged out!

It was a great concert! I had so much fun!!! The thug factor was zero. Tickets were $50 so I guess that played a part in it.

Toodles!!

Stuff!

I haven't done a post about stuff I like in awhile. I love reading these when other people do them. You'll notice a recurring theme with some of these items.

1. Veggies from Trader Joe's.

Love this stuff! I use it for all sorts of stuff. I put it in my wraps that I eat for lunch. I love that's it's crunchy & it's a great way to add veggies. I also mix it in when I scramble eggs, I add it to salads too. Most people say that it's more expensive to buy the stuff already chopped rather than chopping it myself. The problem with that is, it's just Dean & I & he doesn't eat a lot of veggies & everything ends up going bad before I can eat it. It's definitely cheaper for me to buy this. I get a variety & I don't have to do anything. I think it's $3.00.

2. Spinach & Kale Greek Yogurt Dip
This is what Dean likes to call an "experimental item". So so so good! It's much less calories than the spinach I make. Now, when you eat half of the container in one sitting it's still too many calories. Because of that this isn't an every Trader Joe's trip purchase.

3. OPI's I'll Take The Cake
This is what I'm referring to as my signature color. I've been getting it almost every time I get my nails done. Is neutral & has a little shimmer. This picture isn't mine & it's not my hand. It's a google image.

4. This brush is a life changer
Do you have any idea how hard it is to blow dry your hair just holding the brush part? HARD! Trust me. It's a 2" round brush by Global Keratin. I bought it at the salon I go to after Alexy used it on my hair. $25. Pricey but worth every penny. The only issue I have is that I've dropped it NUMEROUS times. Dropping it on ceramic tile has taken it's toll. The first time it broke it was a clean break & Dean was able to super glue it. The second time it broke, it was the same thing. Sadly, three strikes & you're out. It's not a nice break & it won't be glued back together. I fixed my hair with a regular brush & realized just how awesome this one is. It gives you so much volume. If I take a little more time I can completely fix my hair using only this brush. With me that's unheard of because I can't stand how I look with flat hair. Have no fear, a replacement will be here Saturday. Thanks Amazon! Did I mention it's HALF THE PRICE! Yay!

5. Tortilla's from Trader Joe's!
These are really good. About 30 more calories than the kind I was buying but I like these better & they're healthier.

6. Trader Joe's Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
I'm not a fan of apples unless they're cooked & there are little chunks of apples in this oatmeal. So So good!

What are y'all lovin' these days?

Toodles!

Gloomy Monday

I don't like Monday's. I especially don't like them when the look like this.
The rain started just when I was leaving for work. It's not raining at the moment but it looks like it will be any second. It's so so so gloomy which makes me so so so gloomy. Days like this make me want to stay in bed.

Friday after work I stopped to get my nails done. I've decided that OPI's I'll Take The Cake is my new signature color.
Pictures under flourescent lights aren't the greatest. The color has some shimmer in it & it's just a really good neutral. They're a little shorter than normal but that's ok. They grow much too fast anyway. After my mani we had dinner with the crew at Caliente. Always so fun.

Saturday we got up bright & early & went to Sam's & then I went for an 8 mile run. Saturday evening I went to Book Club. We haven't had a get together in awhile so it was nice to get to visit.

Sunday after Mass & Trader Joe's we went to my parents for lunch & then there was a game of t-ball.
This is Logan's first year to play. It should be interesting. Based on yesterday there will be dancing everytime he makes it on base. Then in the middle of the game he announced "It's time to take a break, I'm sweating". Um ok.

Along with too many cheese potatoes at lunch I also had too much fudge. My daddy retired last week & one of the ladies he worked with made him a huge batch of fudge & shockingly, he shared. HA! (My daddy loves his chocolate). When we got home I ate a couple of cookies that Dean had baked while I was at book club. None of  this is conducive to healthy eating. Now, I'm not one of those people that think you should never cheat or never have a cookie (clearly) but I tend to not know when to stop if it's available. Soooo, I'm giving up sweets/desserts for Lent. That means no cake, no cookies, no candy. I've done it before so we'll see.

This happened earlier this morning.

Yes, I will FINALLY be seeing Snoop Dogg in concert. YAY!!! On Valentine's Day WITHOUT Dean. He isn't a fan & not the least bit interested. Snoop is coming to The Varsity which is basically on LSU's campus. It's attached to one of our favorite restaurants - The Chimes. I'm going with Anna. Anna is 21 years old. HAHAHAHA! She lives 2 houses down & we're very good friends with her parents. Anna assures me she's not embarrassed to go with me. In fact she's the one that called me to see if I wanted to go.  Now I have to figure out what to wear. This is going to be difficult......

 

Toodles!

It's Hump Day!!!

That Hump Day commercial still makes me laugh!

I have race pictures from my last race, The Louisiana Half. These pictures are not cute in the least but I did it & this is the proof!
This one was on the course. I think around mile 7 or 8. I like that the camera guys were on ladders in the road so you couldn't miss them & you could at least try to take a decent picture.
My sis-in-law Lydia crossing the finish line.
My brother Scott, killed time waiting for us to finish.I completely forgot to get my pic taken here where I could actually look somewhat normal & have my medal on. Oh well.
I never thought that we look alike or act alike at all but apparently we really are related because we basically had the same pose!
Me & my friend Allison call Scott the Wannabe Kenyan. He's so fast but he wants to be faster.

Today is my daddy's last day at work. He's retiring! I'm so jealous! HA!

I've successfully completed 3 days of the 28 Days of Fitness that Amy is hosting at A Balancing Act. It's tough! I needed to run yesterday evening but the weather was AWFUL so I did the workout instead! I was driving 20 mph on the way home from work & I couldn't see because of the monsoon like weather. We had 2 inches of rain in an hour at our house.

I need to get back into the routine of getting up & running or working out in the mornings. Between the ridiculous cold weather & Dean having stitches in his back that I had to tend to in the mornings it wasn't happening. BTW - I don't like playing Nurse. NOT FUN! I know the whole in sickness & health thing but I didn't know that meant wound care. What am I talking about you ask? Dean had a cyst removed in December, well in January it was determined that all of the cyst wasn't removed so more cutting & 2 more weeks of me playing nurse. Seriously, I'm not good with that type of thing. I get woozy & light headed & feel like I'll pass out. Longest 2 weeks ever!! So now things are back to normal & I need to start getting up earlier.

Also, burpees are the devil. Last nights workout wore me completely out. It was like my Yoglates days. It definitely showed me that as much as I'm running I need to do other workouts too. My friend Amanda said that burpees are like the most fat burning workout you can do or something so I try to remember that when I'm dying.

Does anyone watch New Girl? I never have but then I heard about Prince being on the episode after the Super Bowl. I really like Prince. Purple Rain, When Doves Cry, a man that loves the color purple, what's not to like?? Well, we watched it last night & it was really funny!

Speaking of musicians that I really like, my good friend Stephanie sent me a text this morning that Snoop is going to be at The Varsity (a local music venue) on Valentine's night. Let's see if I can round up anyone to go with me! I'm not getting my hopes up.

Monday was National Frozen Yogurt Day & Yogurtland was giving away free yogurt & toppings from 4-7. It was fill your cup as full as you wanted & it's free! Well, the temp was supposed to be a little warmer, I haven't had froyo in months & what's not to love about free?? I stopped on my way home. Well, stopped isn't the proper word. I pulled in the parking lot & saw the line OUTSIDE THE DOOR & continued driving home. I was sad. I may be crazy but it turns out that it wasn't that warm & no way was I standing in line OUTSIDE where it was 45 DEGREES for FROZEN yogurt. I didn't need an overflowing cup anyway.

So this has been one of the most random post ever.

Toodles!

Catching Up!

Thursday we went back to work after our 2 "snow" (really ice) days. It was sooooo cold. In the 20's when I left for work. Obviously, there would be no running that morning. I went when I got home from work. My plan was to go 4 miles. I don't know if it was the laying around doing nothing for 2 days or what but I felt really good so I kept running.
I could've gone 6 but I was starving. Have I mentioned how much I love my Garmin? It really is so awesome!
We still had ice by the porch.

Friday we ventured out of our normal routine & went to Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro for dinner with friends. The decision to go there was made solely on this
You don't get a great picture of it when you get it to go but it's King Cake Cheesecake & it's straight from Heaven. Seriously, it's amazing. It probably has about 2000 calories but I don't care. WORTH EVERY BITE!

My new running shoes came in & I picked them up Friday.
I wear Brooks Adrenaline's & I love them. I was very excited that they came in pink. I wear a narrow shoe & the narrow only comes in one color & for the last 3 years that color as been blue. I'm not a big fan of blue. I've tried on other shoes but these feel the best. YAY PINK!

I wanted to get in a long run Saturday because I'm running a 15K in a couple of weeks.
I went 7 mi. Thankfully, Dean was going to get his oil changed & he got up early so I did too because I was finishing my run as the sun was coming out & it was getting warm. Yes, it was 20 degrees Thursday but Saturday it was in the 70's. For those of you up north, that's what living in Louisiana is like.

Amy at A Balancing Act is hosting a 28 Days of Fitness.
I decided to jump on board. My workouts haven't been as regular as they were. Aside from running that is. I thought this would be a good way to get back in the routine. I did the workout after my run Saturday. Burpees after 7 mi. isn't a good idea. At least not for me. I thought I was going to die. Sunday was better. Burpees are the devil, no  2 ways about it but I managed to get 45 done - in increments of 10. Planking has never been my favorite either but I know it's an awesome core workout & having a strong core helps you run & keep from getting injured.

Dean & I went to Caliente for lunch Saturday & then after Mass Saturday night we went to the Chimes with a few other couples. It was nice to get to visit & have some good food. I even managed to keep my eating in check. For lunch I had some grilled shrimp & veggies & for dinner I had a veggie sandwich & sweet potato waffle fries. It was delicious!

Super Bowl Sunday was pretty much a bust. First time in years we didn't go anywhere to watch the game. None of our friends were doing anything & we were really just in the mood to stay home. It rained all day so of course I had a nap. The game was a snooze fest especially if you were like me & wanted the Bronco's to win. I love Pey Pey. Oh well. The commercials were lame too I thought. My favorites were the Doritos (I think the time machine is hilarious) & the one with Ellen. She cracks me up.  We watched a lot of pre game stuff which I enjoyed for the most part. I will say Fox needs to talk to Guiliana Rancic & get some tips on how to do a red carpet.

In case you didn't know today is National Frozen Yogurt Day so I'll be partaking in free yogurt at Yogurtland on my way home from work!

Toodles!