Snow Day!

Hi friends!  Thank you for all of your sweet comments on the reunion.  It really did feel kind of like a movie 😀

(wine tasting at Belhurst Castle)

So, after a disastrous THREE hour commute to work yesterday and an additional foot of snow predicted today, I declared a self-imposed snow day today.  My car (Rav4) is fantastic in the snow aside from the problematic feature of the windshield wipers freezing up, which is an issue when I thereby can’t see.  Yeah.  Didn’t want to do that again. 

After sleeping in until a leisurely 10:00 A.M., I sat down at the kitchen table with my coffee and oatmeal and got to schemin’ about lunch.  This is the easiest “recipe” (really, you’re just throwing things together) and it is so so delicious.  In fact, I think it may be my new default lunch!

First, gather your ingredients.  You can get creative- this is my third time having this wrap this week (and it’s only Wednesday!) and each wrap has been different). 

Assemble the veggies.

 Spread on the “spreadables” (goat cheese, mango salsa, garlic hummus and artichoke tapenade) and pile on the veggies.

Fold the wrap (yes, I had to google “how to fold a wrap”) and enjoy!

Veggie Packed Lunch (or dinner!) Wrap

Ingredients:

• handful of button mushrooms, chopped
• handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped
• handful of baby spinach
• goat cheese (enough for one wrap)
• hummus
• salsa
• artichokes, chopped
• Delicious artichoke tapenade from Trader Joe’s
• wrap of your choice (I like the sun-dried tomato wraps)

Directions

1. Lay wrap flat and spread on hummus, goat cheese and salsa
2. Add veggies
3. To wrap, fold the top and bottom of wrap first.  Then, cover the middle with the sides and you should be good to go!

Easy, delicious and filling!

What else does a snow day entail?

A form of cross-training that I think a lot of us are familiar with these days:

Shoveling!  Poor Mr. B- he so desperately wants to be outside with me but as soon as his little body hits the snow, he starts shaking uncontrollably!  I haven’t shoveled in a while- man, it is a really good workout!

After that, I still wanted to get a run in.  Unfortunately, my gym was closed because of the weather.  My brother’s wasn’t though and they just gave me a free seven-day pass!  Awesome!  It probably has something to do with the fact that my brother pretty much lives there 😉

I got a nice quick three miles in doing what is becoming my favorite interval workout:

• Quarter mile @ 5.4
• Quarter mile @ 5.7
• Quarter mile @ 6.0
• Quarter mile @ 7.1
• Repeat!

I also got to try out some of my new lululemon duds.  Bri, sweet husband that he is, got me these pants and this top for Christmas.

Honestly, I really like this ensemble. It took me almost a mile to get to that point though.  The pants kept riding down, which was really frustrating.  However, after a little sweat they fit perfectly!  I’m glad too because I want to get a lot of wear out of these pants!  Has anyone else had this happen with a lululemon crop?  I have a few other pairs of pants from them that fit perfectly so I was surprised by the riding down issue.

I have some pretty exciting blog stuff coming up- Julie is going to be doing some design/transitioning work for me and I am stoked!  I added a recipe tab (though I still have a lot to add!) and am looking forward to some fun changes!

So, was today a snow day for you?  I am ready for winter to be overrrrrr.  On a bright note, Punxsutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow, which means early spring!  Woo!  I don’t really buy it but I’ll take what I can get :p.

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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!