Ringing in the New Year: A Healthy Alternative

It’s hard to believe it is December 30th.  Another year has flown by!  Tomorrow marks the celebration of the last day of 2010 and a welcoming of 2011. 

Some of you may have your New Year’s eve traditions firmly in place.  Until recent years, my New Year’s eve typically involved getting dolled up (fun), heading out to some place with an overpriced entry fee (not fun), and imbibing cocktails with my girlfriends (fun), avoiding the more ridiculous partygoers (perhaps this is why New Year’s eve is snarkily referred to as “amateur night”). 

Last year Bri and I did things a little differently.  After spending the evening watching old seasons of The Office, we watched the ball drop and promptly went to sleep.  We had to be up early to make it to the Hair of the Dog 5k!   I felt amazing after that race.  It felt really good to start the year off on the right foot- setting a healthy precedent, if you will.  That race was my fourth 5k.  I’d been running for approximately six months.  The farthest I had ever run was 3.1 miles. 

 On New Year’s Day 2010, I had some big goals for myself.  A 14k, a half-marathon, and numerous others.  That fourth 5k reaffirmed my commitment to my health and well-being.  I felt as though I had turned over a new leaf.  Instead of staying up into the wee hours of the night drinking, I made one healthy decision.  Which led to some others.  Happily, I achieved most of the goals that I set out for myself (which I laid out in excruciating detail in my last post).   In part because I rang in 2010 in a new, healthy way.  In part because I believed in myself and in my dedication. 

This year is no different.  Well, health-wise at least.  I won’t be spending it with my husband, seeing as how he is halfway around the world.  I will, however, be keeping my New Year’s fitness tradition going.  On New Year’s eve, the hot yoga studio I belong to is holding a late night “Studio 54” class from 10-11:30 PM.  You can bet I will be there 😉  I even conned one of my besties into coming with me (thanks Kristin! 😀 ) On New Year’s day I will be running a 3.5 mile race with some awesome ladies.  It feels really good to end the year and begin a new one participating in activities that I have come to love and identify myself with.  Cheers to a happy and healthy 2011!

How will you be spending New Year’s eve and day?  Don’t worry, I won’t judge if you are out partying.  Sometimes that is needed.  Though I may call you an amateur 😉

Image sources: (here) and (here)

So You Want to Try Hot Yoga?

I’d always been curious about hot yoga.  When I came across a studio located next to the building where my father and I were taking dance lessons for our father-daughter dance, it seemed serendipitous.  Here is your chance- try it out!  I walked past the door and was instantly intimidated.  The people inside looked like serious yogis- that wasn’t me and I couldn’t see it ever becoming me. 

I pushed aside my insecurities (dude, I don’t know what I’m doing!) and signed up for my first class.  And was instantly hooked.  That was eight months ago.  I am so glad that I overcame my initial hesitation and tried something outside of my comfort zone.  If you have any curiosity about hot yoga- TRY IT! Here are some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned over the past eight months:

• Drink a lot of water during the day prior to class.    On days when I have a hot yoga class, I typically take in at least 100 ounces of water, 64 of which I drink during the day before class.   Yes, I make a lot of bathrooms trips.  It’s okay.  If you show up to class hydrated, you are more likely to be able to stay strong and power through all of the moves.
• Be prepared to sweat.  A lot.  Seriously.  Like you never have before!  I had heard that hot yoga was a sweat sesh but until you experience it, you can’t really comprehend it.  I walked into my first class with a hand towel and my mat, leaving a bath towel in the car.  When I asked the instructor if I should grab the bath towel, she smiled at me knowingly and just said yes.   Then I took my first class.  Well.  I was prepared to sweat.  I was NOT prepared to have sweat dripping off of my body in buckets, soaking the towel and the mat.  It was weird.  And awesome and cleansing. 
• Wear as little clothing as possible.  It is HOT in the room.  Traditional Bikram classes are heated to 105 degrees.  Couple that with a full classroom of people working hard and it is going to be hot hot hot.  With that being said;
• (Try to) Leave body issues at the door.  The hot room is no place to be insecure.  The heat will have even the most modest of women stripping down to their sports bras.  My yoga studio has students of all shapes, sizes and skill levels.  Everyone is focused on their own workout and there is no room for judgment.   
• Your body will adapt to the heat.  The first class is always the hardest.  It is a shock to the system and may even seem like a form of torture (okay, I’m exaggerating.  It is intense though!).  My instructor urges students to try the classes for a week.  After the first few classes the heat becomes addicting!  It is amazing how well the human body adapts. 
• Be prepared for some interesting bodily happenings.   Not necessarily of your own.  The worst is when someone next to you has had garlic or onions with their lunch.  Just yesterday a young kid was blowing his nose into his hand after ever pose and wiping it on his towel.  Yick.  You see all sorts of craziness in the hot room!
• Invest in a hot yoga towel, like yogitoes.  When I first started practicing, I used a traditional bath towel.  It soon became clear that this would not cut it.  The towel didn’t cover my whole mat and I was slipping and sliding everywhere.  My yogitoes towel is awesome.  It covers the whole length of my mat and stays in place.  It is essential!
• Bring lots of water to class.  You will drink all of it.
• Coconut water is awesome.  After class, there is nothing more satisfying than drinking coconut water.  Well, except for showering, of course.  Anyway.  Coconut water is an awesome, natural way to rehydrate and replace the electrolytes you sweat out during the class.
• It is addicting.  Even if the first class is tough, you WILL be back and you will become addicted 🙂

 

 Have you ever tried hot yoga?  If not, you really should!  It will enhance your athletic abilities, make you more at ease with your body, increase your flexibility, reduce stress… the list goes on and on!  Go ahead and try it- you have nothing to lose 🙂

*Disclaimer- I am not a yoga instructor nor a fitness instructor or health professional.  These statements are just what I have learned in my own experiences.  

Boots, Blends, & Bailey

Hi friends!  Thank you for all of the kind words and congrats on my dad’s first 5k.  I know he loved all of the comments!  🙂 

How was your holiday weekend?  It is starting to look like Christmas in my house:

Isn’t this little tree gorgeous?  My stepmom found it at a craft fair.  I love it!  When do you usually start decorating for the holidays?  I am a strict wait until at least Thanksgiving passes kind of girl.

It was nice to have a four day weekend.  I got some shopping done and found these beauties:  

Forty percent off at Banana Republic.  Score!  I have been on the lookout for a pair of flat tan boots for who knows how long.  It figures that when I’m not looking for them they pop right up.  I love them so much that I’ve been wearing them everywhere, including around the house.  😉

I attended a few hot yoga sessions over the holiday weekend:

• Hot Rockin’ Vinyasa, 80s style (Wednesday evening)- I wore the most ridiculous eighties outfit.  It was fun!
• 26 plus (Friday morning)- Like tradition Bikram but even harder!
• Silent Bikram (Sunday afternoon)- my most favorite class ever.

All of that yoga has left me feeling awesome!  With the exception of one week, I think I hit my November goal of attending at least four yoga classes per week. 

Yesterday was a busy and fun day!  I ran 3.25 cold, invigorating miles.  I am on the fence as to what my perfect running weather is.   I don’t like it too cold but running in the summer is NOT my favorite.  Yesterday’s temps of almost 40 degrees was pretty awesome!

After the run, I met up with Jen to have lunch at Professor Java’s and give her some TJs goodies.  It is always fun to catch up with her!  She is the sweetest girl ever- look what she gave me:

Freshly baked banana walnut bread in a cute little Christmas dish!  Thanks Jen 😀   After hanging with Jen I hit up yoga then got to see another one of my fave blends, who gifted me with delicious cookies.  Heather, I already had three of them 🙂  Thank you!

This morning I had to drop of my fave little guy to get his teeth cleaned (and a few pulled) at the vet 😦 

He was shaking when I dropped him off.  I feel so bad!  I will be calling the vet soon to make sure he is okay.  Poor little!

Okay friends, I’m out- enjoy your cyber Monday!

Miscellany 2

Hi guys!   How y’all been?  I’ve been fairly busy with work and lots and lots of hot yogaaaaa.  I am well on my way towards hitting my goal of 4x a week.  I even woke up at 5:40 A.M (!!!) this past Tuesday to take a class at 6:30.  It was awesome!  I had a cold, rainy three miler with Melissa on that evening (her marathon is in THREE DAYS holla) and I wasn’t even tired.  I did, however, pass out at 9 P.M.  Early riser=early to bed fo sho 😉

Yesterday I conquered another one of my goals:  

I made tofu (recipe forthcoming), with the help of a secret ingredient:

Okay, maybe not so secret but it is dang good!  While in Philly this weekend I will be hitting up Trader Joe’s to replenish all of the goodies I picked up last month during the blogger grocery shopping bonanza.  Yes! 😀 

I have some guest posts going around in the blog world- our wedding is featured on Brides Up North– check out the site!  Julia has really outdone herself in her new venture.   I also wrote about staying healthy while traveling over on Linzi’s blog.  How do you stay healthy on the road?

Other exciting stuff- I get to see my husband in less than two months, for fifteen glorious days!  😀 😀 😀 So excited!  Hopefully the holidays will fly by! 🙂 

If you’re going to be in Philly this weekend for the marathon, let me know!  Maybe we can meet up 😀

Check ya later!

A Productive Day and a Delicious Recipe

Hello everyone!  I hope that you enjoyed Veteran’s Day and took some time to reflect on those who served and are currently serving.  I know I have 😉  Today has been incredibly productive- I wish I could have every Thursday off!  The day started with a vet appointment for Mr. B- he had his annual checkup.  The poor little guy is such a champ.  I held him when he got a shot and he didn’t even whimper!  I had to stop and get him special treats afterwards, of course! 

After the vet I headed out to get a 4 3.3 mile run in. It was a gorgeous day out today!  The weather has been a little schizo, seeing as how it was snowing buckets on Monday and I had to go back inside today to change out of my cold gear and into a long sleeved tech tee and shorts without gloves!  Although, taking off the gloves was a bad idea since I had to cut the run short- my hands were FREEZING and I was back at my house 😉  It was a great day to run though- it is cheesy but the cold air really made me feel alive! 

After the run I got to making one of the most delicious recipes I think I’ve ever made, courtesy of my friend Nicole.  I’m kind of obsessed.  Then I accompanied my dad to Fleet Feet to get him fitted for a pair of running shoes.  I am running his first 5k with him in two weeks, yippee!  I should have known better than to think I would come out of Fleet Feet empty-handed.  Nope, I walked out with this:

A Brooks running jacket!  She is gorgeous.  I justified it because I had a $25 gift card from the store (love the loyalty points) and it fit like a glove .

Look, it even has a special spot inside for your ipod! 

Okay, I’ll be honest.  What really sold me was the thumbhole!

Yes, I’m obsessed!  I can’t wait to run in it!!

After coming home from the store I hurried over to a glorious hot yoga class.  Today’s class was much better than yesterday’s if only for the fact that the creepy guy wearing only tiny shorts that gyrates his hips in circles while staring at himself in the mirror to “warm up” before class  (seriously.  I wish I was joking) wasn’t present.  It was awkward last night, to say the least!   Did you have today off?  If so, what’d ya do? 😀

Okay, so on to one of the best recipes ever.  It is a little intensive but I promise you it is worth it, especially if you like risotto and cheese.  I had it for dinner tonight and it is one of the best risotto dishes I’ve ever had, if I do say so myself 😉

Risotto Caprese

Ingredients:

• 7-8 cups vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 3 cups arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 pound fresh mozzarella
• 3 heirloom tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the stock to a gentle simmer and maintain over low heat
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and sautee until soft, approximately two minutes.  Add the arborio rice and stir until each grain is well-coated, approximately three minutes.  Add the wine and stir until completely absorbed.
3. Add the simmering stock to the rice a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly.  Once the liquid is completely absorbed (but never completely dry on top), add the next ladleful and stir, repeating until only 1/4 cup of stock is left.  Reserve the stock.
4. Cut the fresh mozzarella into 1/2 inch pieces.  When the rice is tender to the bite but slightly firm in the center and creamy looking, remove from heat and stir in reserved stock, the mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.  Season with salt and pepper and enjoy.

This is so cheesy and delicious.  This recipe is definitely a keeper (even if your arm is sore from all of that stirring) ;).  Do you like risotto?  Have you ever made it?

Have a great evening friends- it’s almost the weekend! 😀

Miscellany

Good morning friends!  Another Monday morning is upon us!  Did y’all enjoy the extra hour we got from setting our clocks back?  I think it messed with my system a little; I went to sleep at 8 PM last night and didn’t wake up until 7:30 AM this morning.  Ahh, at least I can say I am well-rested now! 

This past weekend was a blast!  On Friday night I headed to the gym for the first time in MONTHS to make use of the treadmill, since it was already uber dark at 6 PM.  I did a speed/interval workout that I think is called “quarters.”  Anyway, here is what it looks like, Katie style:

• Warm up for half a mile at desired warm up pace (for me this is 5.8 on the treadmill
• Sprint for a quarter mile (6.9-7.1 on treadmill)
• Recovery jog for a quarter mile (5.3 on treadmill)
• Repeat until you reach your desired mileage- for me, I repeated five times to reach three miles.

I was a sweaty beast when all was said and done!  I usually resort to these sort of interval workouts while on the treadmill because it is so dang boring!  I am also thinking I should just purchase a treadmill.  I used to use my gym membership for classes and the like but no longer- hot yoga rules my life!  I am essentially paying $44 a month to use a treadmill a few times.  Kind of silly, eh?  Do you own a treadmill?  If so, any brands you can recommend?

I also hit up Target this weekend.  I went in to purchase the final installment in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) and came out with the book plus a pair of jeggings and a cute pair of black shoes:

I couldn’t resist!  They were only $20 and I have been on the lookout for a pair of low black flats/heels/whatever.  They only had a few sizes left but mine was one of them.  I figured it was fate 😀  Do you get sucked into impulse purchases at Target?  I know I’m not the only one 😉

On Saturday and Sunday I attended my bikram yoga classes, bringing my total to four for the week.  I’m on track with my November goal of attending class at least 4-5 times a week!  The classes always kill me but I feel so awesome afterwards.  I cannot rave enough about it!  Before class on Sunday, I manged to get in three miles outside- it was a gorgeous, chilly fall day!  I listened to one song on repeat for the entire run- OAR “City on Down” live at Madison Square Garden.  It’s an awesome song to run to!  Do you have any songs that you can listen to over and over again?

Lastly, I hosted a fun jewelry party on Saturday night.  My sis in law is a Lia Sophia consultant so she came by with her yorkie, Bella.  The cat kept staring at Bailey and Bella.  You could tell she was bitter that Bailey somehow managed to multiply 😉  Some of my fave bloggies even stopped by!  A good time was had by all.  I made guacamole (3 avocados, diced onion, diced tomato, fresh lime juice, salt and pepper) and homemade macaroni and cheese.  The mac n cheese was to die for!  Definitely a worthwhile splurge 🙂  You can find the recipe I used here.

A final question for everyone- I am spectating the Philly Marathon in two weeks to cheer on my running buddy Melissa (yippee!!)  For those of you that have spectated before, any fun tips to share?  I am excited! 

How was your weekend?  Enjoy your Monday, friends!

Goals and Green-ness

Good morning!

Stop taking pictures so I can sleep in peace, devil woman!

Thank you for all of your comments on my first trail race!   There really is something about running in the woods.  I definitely recommend trail running!  You do have to be on higher alert when running in the woods- constantly looking ahead of you to make sure you don’t trip over a rock, branch, your own two feet, piles of leaves and the like.  Over the summer I ran a few times on a trail near my house.  I created two rules for myself when running on the trail: 1) Never wear headphones and 2) Carry mace pepper spray.  Admittedly, I didn’t follow my second rule all the time because I didn’t have pepper spray until I purchased it at the end of summer, but no matter.  When running on the trails, you are typically alone and surrounded by only nature.  I think it is important to be on alert in case any creepers are out there looking to cause harm to someone- hence the pepper spray and lack of headphones.  Do you have any safety rules that you follow while running?  If so, please share! 🙂

Ah, so October is gone and we have two months left in the year.  Hello, November!  😀  I am typically not one to wish life away but with this deployment I am counting down the days/months gleefully.  Since it is the beginning of a new month and racing season is over, I’ve established some new goals that I would like to accomplish:

Goals: Life/Personal

• Finish our wedding thank you cards.  I wanted to have this done by the six month mark.  I still have 25 to go.  I NEED to get this done before Christmas cards start going out.
• Change over last name on passport/social security card.  I avoided having to get the title to my car changed by purchasing a new car.  Kidding, kidding 😀 That was a convenient side effect though.  I need to have my passport changed (it is 110 dollars to change it, dang son!) and my social and then I’ll be Katie H on everything!
• Organize closet.  I’ve been reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubing and in the first chapter she discusses how organizing her closet helped organize her mind.  I totally need to ruthlessly go through and edit my wardrobe. 
• Go Green.  I’ll discuss below.

Goals: Health/Fitness

• Conquer tofu.  I would like to learn how to cook tofu at home.  I am very intimidated by it.  Namely because a lot of draining is involved and I don’t know if I will do it right.  Since I am not eating as much meat and love tofu, I need to conquer cooking it!  Any tofu recipes to share?
• Attend hot yoga a minimum of four times a week.  Ideally I would like to go 5-6 times a week, but I am traveling a lot of the weekends this month.  If I’m not home, I can’t attend the classes.  I am very excited to focus on my yoga practice in these winter months.
• Maintain a base mileage of 10 miles/week.  Obviously I’m not running as much as I was during training, but I’d still like to maintain some sort of base.  This way, when I start training next year I will have something to work off of!

Do you have any goals for the month of November?

So, one of the goals I mentioned was going green.  My friend and fellow blogger Jen started a really neat challenge last month:

The Green challenge!  I wanted to join last month and then saw what the challenge was- only drinking local wine and beer.  Mmm, I definitely couldn’t adhere to that- I love wine too much.  New York state does have some good wines but they just don’t compare to my Italian chiantis or my Argentinian malbecs.  The thing about Jen’s challenge that I really respect and appreciate is that the challenges actually present a challenge– I am betting it is damn hard for her to only drink locally.  Anyway, this month’s challenge is right up my alley- limiting/reducing plastic use.  Check out her post for more information, but the basic tenets are this: eliminating waste when dining out (unless you can recycle it), no plastic water bottles,  only using to-go cups with coffee/tea (this will definitely be a challenge), no plastic grocery bags, etc.  The challenge lasts for a year.  I am really excited to be on board!  Do you have any tips or tricks on how to reduce plastic use?

Thanks for reading and have a good one, friends!

Meatless Monday, Blends & BCE

Hi friends!  I have to say I’m dragging today.  I stayed up WAY too late last night reading a Nicholas Sparks novel.  They are so predictable but still manage to suck me in every time!   Today is definitely an extra coffee kind of day 😉

Yesterday was super fun.  I met up with a bunch of local blends at one of my favorite cafes for breakfast.  It is so awesome to have met so many amazing people through blogging! 

Emily,  Rebecca, me, Julie, Heather, Cory, Alicia, Nicole (thanks for the photo Rebecca!)

After we parted ways I headed home to be productive take the pup and my nephew for a long walk.  Then it was time for the BCE, or BEST CLASS EVA!  Seriously.  Yesterday was my first experience with silent bikram yoga and it was AWESOME!  In a standard Bikram class the lights are on and the instructor talks the entire time, guiding you through the poses and the like.  Sometimes they remind me of an announcer at the horse races.  Anyway.  To take silent Bikram, you must have taken at least ten classes (which I have).  It coincided with my schedule so I figured I should check it out.  Amazing!  There were only ten people, the lights were dimmed and the instructor played awesome music.  We still did the traditional 26 postures times two, but instead of talking us through the entire thing the instructor just told us when to change positions. 

My stepmom took the class with me (she is a yoga rock star) and I remember looking over to her at various points during the class exclaiming (silently, haha) how awesome the class was.  It might sounds cheesy but the music really enhanced the poses.  It wasn’t traditional yoga music either- Black Eyed Peas, P!nk, IZ, Jay-Z and other random songs.  So relaxing.  That was a great way to end the weekend and start the week off on the right foot 😀

Since today is Meatless Monday, last night I made a dish to eat for lunch and dinner.  It was actually super easy to make and quite tasty!  The nutritional stats are pretty decent too: 477 calories, 21 g fat (5g saturated), 26 g protein, 13.1 g fiber and 56 g carbs.  Here’s the dish:

Whole Wheat Pasta with Edamame, Arugula and Herbs

Ingredients

• 8 oz uncooked whole wheat penne (I used the whole box [14 oz] of multi grain pasta)
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T butter
• 2 cups frozen shelled edamame (I used 3 cups)
• 2 cups arugula (they didn’t have arugula at the grocery store so I used an herb mix)
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley (I omitted)
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 T chopped basil (omitted)
• 1 T chopped fresh thyme (I used dried thyme)
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 ounces fresh parmigano-romano cheese, shaved
• 1 garlic clove, minced (I added this, original recipe doesn’t call for it)

Directions

1. Cook pasta and drain, set aside
2. Heat oil and butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add edamame and garlic to pan, cook through until edamame are thoroughly heated and butter is melted, stirring occasionally.  Combine with pasta.
3. Add lemon juice, tomatoes, herb mix or arugula, fresh herbs and salt.  Mix everything together
4. Cover Sprinkle with cheese and enjoy!

I have to say, I had it for lunch today and it is pretty dang good. 

I like the fact that there is a lot of color in the dish- I feel like I’m doing my part in eating a rainbow of veggies 🙂  Have you tried edamame?  I love it!  It is packed with protein and makes a fantastic snack or addition to a meal (I love to add it into mac ‘n cheese 🙂 )

Do you have any meatless recipes to share?  I’m always on the lookout!  How was the weekend? 

See ya lata!

Easing Back Into It

Hi friends!  Happy Saturday to you 😀  Mine’s been relatively low-key.  I’ve been spending a bit of time with this little bumblebee:

Bailey is a bit ashamed about his halloween costume so he refuses to look at the camera.

Look at the little white stinger on his little butt!  heh.  He is too cute. 

Anyway, like the title of the post suggests, I’ve been easing back into a workout routine.  The first time I worked out since the half was this past Thursday.  I attended a bikram hot yoga class (which I’ve done many times before) and it damn near killed me!  I have never sweat so much and I barely had the energy to drive home.  Granted, the class is difficult on a normal day but it just showed me that my body is still in recovery mode. 

This morning I ran for the first time since the half.  It was a standard 3.25 mile run.  I felt fine, albeit a little bored.  When I returned my toenail had reverted back to purple (it had faded since Sunday!) but overall my body feels good. 

So what now?  I have to admit, I’ve been feeling a little lost fitness-wise this past week.  I’ve read about the post-race blues on a lot of blogs, but this is the first time I’ve really felt it myself!  The half was amazing and I can’t believe that it is over and I have nothing to train for!  I’ve learned that I am a girl that likes a plan.  It is weird to look at my google calendar and not see all of my workouts planned out.  Being that I seemingly had ants in my pants from not working out this week, I developed a new plan of attack, workout wise:

Until I start training for my next race, I am going to attend hot yoga 3x a week, body sculpt 1x a week, and run 2-3x a week.  With two rest days because that’s how I like to roll.  Bri is also going to develop some sort of program for me to get me on the way to completing a pullup!  That is definitely on my list of things to achieve.  Are you a planner when it comes to fitness?

As for racing, Bri and I plan on running the Marine Corps Marathon together next October 🙂  I’ll start training for that in mid-June.  Since I want to run another half, I’m looking for one that occurs in late April/early May.  I’ll start training for that at the end of February. Other than that the only races I have going on are a six mile trail run on Halloween and possibly a 15k the following weekend.  We’ll see how I feel!

Alright peeps, I’m off to a girls night with one of my besties.  She is moving to South Carolina in less than a month, boo 😦  Don’t leave me Christina!

Oh, before I go- notice a new link at the top of the page?  I purchased a domain name!  I’m now the proud owner of legallyfitblog.com.  Woohoo! 

Have a good one y’all!

Cookies!! & Wardrobe Challenge Day 3

Hey y’all!  I’m not Southern but I really wish I was, just so I could get away with saying y’all.  Anyway.  I’m so stoked that tomorrow is Friday!  I have a busy weekend planned, with lots of running, yoga and friend time.  Good stuff 😀  Yesterday I got in a two mile training run in 18:39.  That is REALLY fast for me!  Granted it is two miles but if I can keep up that pace I should be able to shatter my 5k PR (30:35 I think) next Tuesday.  Woop! 

Hot yoga challenge last night was bombtastic, as always.  I think I’m really getting used to bikram (room is heated to 105 degrees) versus the hot yoga challenge (95 degrees) because yesterday the temperature of the room was quite bearable.  I’ll take it!

Today marks day three of the challenge.  Oy.  It is going to be a lonnnng month.  On the bright side, I am wearing shoes and jewelery that has just been sitting there unused.  Today’s clothing and accessories:

Closeup of the detailing on the top/pearls:

Let’s be honest though- I don’t wear my suit jacket around the office.  Unless I have a meeting or something.  In the mix:

• Wool blend suit jacket- Banana Republic (purchased 2005)
• Black wool blend suit pants- Express (purchased 2004)- yes, the same ones as yesterday.  Repeat!
• Teal-ish cotton dressy tee- Banana Republic (purchased Spring 2010)
• Pearls- gift from my mother and grandmother
• Black pearl bracelet- gift from Brian
• Peep toe pumps- Aldo (purchased sometime in 2006?)- I love these shoes.  Unlike the other peep toes, they are actually quite comfortable.  I’m still not sold on peep toes with long pants but hey, that’s what the challenge is for, right?  Mixing it up yo!

Okay, on to more delicious items.  Specifically, Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cookies, courtesy of Sweet Tooth Court! Seriously, this girl is my go-to recipe person for sweets.  I’ve met her in real life and she’s just as “sweet” (ha) in person as she is on her blog.   I’ve been sending Bri care packages but hadn’t yet baked him anything.  After perusing Courtney’s recipes, I settled on her Chocolate Butterscotch Cheesecake Cookie recipe, which I adjusted to Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cookies (I didn’t want the chocolate to melt when being shipped!)  Don’t worry, I altered the recipe on Tuesday to make chocolate chip cheesecake cookies too 😉  The beauty of this recipe is that you can alter it to make tons of flavors!  Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 + 1/2 sticks of butter
• 1/4 apple sauce
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup regular sugar
• 1 package of jello cheesecake pie filling (or any other flavor- customize to your heart’s content!)
• 1 t vanilla
• 4 egg whites
• 2 & 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 12 oz peanut butter chips (or chocolate chips, or butterscotch chips…)

• Preheat the oven to 375
• In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugars, dry pudding mix and vanilla with an electric mixer until well blended
• Add the egg whites and applesauce, mix until well blended.
• Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder.  Mix until completely blended.
• Stir in chips!
• Using an ice cream scooper, place on baking sheet and bake for around fifteen minutes (I like my cookies large!) or until they turn a goldish brown. 
• Let cool, and enjoy!

These are the finished peanut butter cheesecake cookies.  Note that I individually wrapped some of them- my friend Melissa sent me a link on how to keep cookies for soldiers overseas fresh, and apparently the key is individually wrapping them.  I placed the individually wrapped cookies into a larger tupperware container.  Here’s to hoping they arrive in Afghanistan fresh and delicious!

The reason I love this recipe is that there are so many combinations of cookies you could come up with.  Why not combine lemon jello pie filling mix with white chocolate chips?  I made chocolate chip cheesecake cookies for my family and they were huge fans.  So, Courtney, thanks for the recipe! 😀

Have a great Thursday!