Run, Eat, Sew, Sammy

Certainly not in of order of importance - running, eating, sewing and Sammy has consumed my life lately. (Okay, okay - sewing has not consumed my life - other than one evening last week - but I want to show a project I did and it felt weird not to include it in the title.)

Run

Well, my abstinence from mint juleps and margaritas was worth it! I finished the Providence Half Marathon in 1:41 (a 7:43 pace), which is 10 minutes faster than my previous half marathon best. The goal that I told people was that I hoped to finish in 1:50, but my secret goal was to actually finish in 1:45. I still can't believe I accomplished that - and more!

The week leading up to the race, Sammy came down with a cold, and proceeded to pass sore throats on to both James and myself. I went totally off schedule with my regular training runs, and had an annoying headache the entire day before the race. On top of that, I had a severe case of pouty pants-itis because James was going to have a fun weekend with his friends, while I was stuck doing boring things, like hydrating and carb-loading. Things were not looking well.

But then race day arrived. I was nervous, but the weather conditions were perfect and I felt ready and raring to go. I started out the race with my friend / running partner / sister's roommate, Christina, and just being there with her helped ease my anxiety a ton.

The race course itself turned out to be great. The ratio of hills to flat roads was perfect, and we ran through some beautiful neighborhoods. (I wish I had taken pictures of some of the gorgeous homes and yards!) It also helped that my sister, her boyfriend and Christina's boyfriend were able to meet us at a few different spots to cheer us on.

(Will I ever find shorts that don't ride up? Gah!)

I am kicking myself for deciding at the last minute to not track the run via my Runmeter app as I have no idea how I did during each particular mile, but I guess it also helped me not worry about time, and just focus on running strong. And I felt super strong throughout the majority of the race, which is perhaps my biggest accomplishment. Next up... the Iron Horse Half Marathon, where, okay, I'll just say it - I hope to run under 1:40. Eek!

Christina and me, post-race. I swear we didn't mean to coordinate outfits.

Sister and cheerleader-extraordinaire, Em and me.

Eat

I've neglected to do weekly meal write-ups the past couple weeks, but here's a snapshot of a couple things I've made for dinner. Unless otherwise noted, all recipes were pulled from the "Healthy Bible".

Vegetable lo mein - tasty!

Spicy chicken chipotle salad - I made this two weeks in a row, it was that good. I packaged it up in a wrap and added avocado and sometimes, cheese. (Though it was so flavorful that it actually didn't need the cheese.)

Salt and vinegar kale mashed potatoes - I served this as a side dish, and OH my Lord. Please make them right away. They were just insanely delicious. Don't let the poorly photographed mush above deter you.

Dal (Spiced Red Lentils) - Eh, this was a bit of a disappointment. The flavor was lacking. And I was growing tired of curry.

Fusilli with asparagus, leeks and goat cheese - Again, a bit of a disappointment. I am not the hugest goat cheese fan, and would have preferred a different cheese in this case.

Not dinner, but a pretty pic of some strawberries I ate. We've been consuming fruit non-stop these days as Sammy can't get enough. (Though he's not yet allowed to eat strawberries.)

Quinoa with spinach, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. (Loosely based off this recipe.) My favorite way to eat quinoa thus far.

Last night, we had this thai chicken pizza again. This time I had no issues while making it, and it continued to be delicious!

Tonight, we had this kale, turkey sausage and white bean concoction, a recipe that my friend Sara (holla!) gave me, and a spicy corn sauté - both were out of this world! I may do a separate entry with both recipes as they are definitely worth sharing, not to mention ridiculously healthy.

And finally, because for once, we have an overabundance of bananas, and because I made these a week ago and they were super quick to make and delicious, and just because I have some new cute muffin wrappers from Shop Sweet Lulu, I decided to prep some banana buttermilk muffins for tomorrow morning. (Recipe from here.) Is it weird to have a full stomach and yet look forward to breakfast?

Sew

The ol' sewing machine has been gathering dust for a few months as I just can't seem to find the time to fit sewing in right now. Plus, as my mom has said, sewing is more of a cold weather hobby.

However, I actually made the effort a couple weeks ago to go to the store, purchase a toddler pants pattern, as well as some adorable green and white seersucker fabric. I then even went so far as to have my mom help me decipher the pattern, and cut out the various pieces needed. And then... a day or so passed. And then a week or so passed. For some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and figure out the next steps!

So instead, I pulled out this red ticking striped fabric I've had for months now and decided to whip up two double placemats for our dining table. I absolutely love this fabric and originally intended to make throw pillows with it, or, if a feeling of delirious ambitious might come over me one day, cover a headboard for our guest bedroom.

But, tired of our current table runner, I decided to do the double placemat thing instead. This was a quick project that I did in one evening. It took me longer to iron the fabric than it did to actually sew it. (Probably because I'm an uber slacker didn't do a double-hem.)

Regardless, I'm happy with how they came out. And so long as I never have to wash them (says the mother of a little boy whose hands are perpetually dirty and who has already pulled on them multiple times), it's all good.

(Please excuse the super dark and ridiculously staged photo below.)

Sammy

I know I never posted a "Sammy is nine months!" entry, but as we're nearing his tenth month of life, I thought I'd do a quick update. (As, eh hem, I likely won't get to a "Sammy is ten months!" We'll see though.)

Let me tell you, there is never a dull moment in our house anymore. Lengthy two-hour naps seem to be a thing of the past, independence rarely lasts longer than a minute, and toys - puh! Who needs toys when there are tables to pull oneself up on, books to pull down from shelves, doors to slam open and closed, chairs to drag across the room, Mommy's legs to grab, and glass bar carts to crawl into?

With that said, I continue to feel like I have one of the happiest babies on the planet. His personality grows by the day, he chats non-stop, laughs and giggles even more, and has wooed every lady over the age of 60 that dares set foot in our grocery store.

Though I suppose I would be overstating things to say that the giggles are non-stop all day long. As his personality has grown, someone has suddenly learned how to express the moments when he's not so happy.

Particularly, when any meal ends, a drink is finished, or a snack is no longer being offered. It's not pretty, my friends - it's not pretty. But we won't focus on the negative.

My little baby is quickly approaching toddlerhood, and as exciting as it is, I'm just not sure I'm ready yet.