Its a rag top day....

Little Jimmy Buffett reference there.....

Well today I'm off to the beach! Yay!!!   We are currently trying to sell my car and the hubby has someone hopfully comining to look at it today, so rather than drive his big ol' truck to the beach I asked my in-laws if I could borrow a car.... Jackpot! They let me borrow the convertible!

So me, my beach bag full of running & beach gear, plus my running shoes and my trusty Livestrong visor.....

Get to zoom to the beach in this hot little number....

Much different than my mode of transportation to the beach last year when my mom was staying there.  Last year I RAN to the beach.  It just happened I needed to run a 20 mile long run that weekend and it just happens the beach house is exactly 20 miles from my house.  Not this year though... later marathon so no 20 milers yet.  But it was a fun adventure to run to the beach.  I had my cell phone with me, so my mom called to check in with me a few times along the way.  I definitely was a happy camper when I finally saw the ocean though!

So back to today.  I still got up early and went to the 6am Kettlebell class.  Today was a bit easier than yesterday... thank goodness!!!!

8 x 8 Thursters

Figure 8's

Heavy rows

Elbow Touch Planks

300m sprint

Repeated 4 times

After a good stretch I headed home to my usual breakfast. I definitely am one that falls into a rut, its hard to be creative first thing in the morning I guess.

Now I'm off to the beach!  I think I'll swing by a coffee shop for an iced tea for the road.  Hopefully I'll get some relaxing in but I'm pretty sure a run is on the agenda and I have a conference call I have to hop on to for a little bit too.  

Have a great day and happy Friday!!

Britt

Ladies night.....

Tonight was a fun night. 

I left work a tad early to go grab a drink with a co-worker.  Her birthday was last weekend and we never got to celebrate.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day so we hit a deck by the river.  It was so nice to sit outside.  I enjoyed a yummy orange flavored vodka soda.  

After our drink by the river I headed home to change and move on to my next adventure, dinner with a few other friends!  We met up at a restaurant that I have driven by a million times and always said I needed to try.... well I finally tried and it was delish!

I thought the best way to start the evening was with a warm weather beverage..... cue sangria. 

I'm used to a much darker sangria, but this one was nice and not too heavy. I opted for a salad & an appetizer.  I started with a chopped spinach salad. 

-baby spinach, chickpeas, roasted red peppers, onion, feta kalamata vinaigrette.... YUM!

The next picture of my entree... will NOT go down in history as one of the greats in the world of blogging..... or actually any world.  Apparently I moved the phone too fast or something and added a bit of motion to it.  ;)

Tuna Carpaccio

-ahi tuna, red onion, fried capers, Grana Padano cheese and olive oil with toast bread

Ain't that one beauty of a picture.  LOL  

Oh well.  The real sad part was that I didn't take a picture of dessert.  The 6 of us shared carrot cake and a thick fudgey chocolate cake.  Poor me was seated right in the middle with both in front of me....  it was so hard not to keep nibbling!!!  They were so yummy!

Despite the dessert indulgence I don't feel stuffed.  My salad and appetizer as an entree were the perfect portion.  Got some veggies, dairy, carbs and protein.....and chocolate!  

Even though I decided to take tomorrow off, I'll be up and out early.  Planning on 6am Kettlebell, then will head to the beach to visit with my mom... I'm pretty certain we will go for a run and then later I'll head home to meet the hubby & friends for a concert in the park.... I LOVE SUMMER!!!!

Nighty night, 

Britt

Recap of the morning eats......

I had a mid-morning snack of one piece of whole wheat toast with some Bee's Knees Peanut Butter from the Peanut Butter & Co. It was a bit sweet, but it totally reminds me of PB & Honey sandwiches my mom used to make me when I was little. Yum. (oh and it was camera shy)

I headed home at lunch to walk Reggie. I was thinking about the yummy kinda salad thing I made last night so I decided to do it again with a few twists.

-left over roasted red potatoes w/ herbs, spinach, string beans of all sorts of colors, 1/2 an avocado, baby bell light cheese, walnuts, some wickles and a little balsamic vinaigrette. So good!

Reggie kept me company and chilled on the deck while I ate.... such a hard life he leads.

Back to work I go!

Today is my FRIDAY!!

I decided to take tomorrow off and go visit my mom at the beach! She is renting a house this week at a beach not too far from us, so I'm going to go hang with her and my step-dad for the day. Although hanging with them means RUNNING! They are some of the most active people I know, especially my mom. I'll have to do a blog dedicated to her some time, she is an amazing woman!

Any how back to today.

When my alarm went off at 5:15am I debated if I really needed to go to the 6am Kettlebell class, but then I realized if I didn't go then, I wouldn't be able to go later. So out for a quick walk with the dog and then on to Kettlebell. It was a good thing I didn't check the gym's blog before going otherwise I would have never stepped through that door.....

FILTHY FIFTY..... oh my....
For Time:
50 Box Jumps
50 Ring Rows
50 American Swings
Walking Lunges - 50 Steps
50 Knees to Elbow (did these as knees to chest crunches, instead of hanging from the pullup bar)
50 Push Press
50 Sit Ups
50 Wallballs
50 Burpees
50 Lateral Jump

I was a sweaty drippy mess after all that!

After a bit of stretching I headed home. I was about to start making breakfast when I noticed the poor state of my totamto plants..... forgot they hadn't been watered in a few days. So that led to watering all my plants on the deck and the hydrangeas I recently planted. This lead to me scrambling to get out the door on time.

So I resorted to my usual breakfast....
-kashi heart to heart, berries, greek yogurt, ground flax, almond butter
-don't have the photo right now so you can check it out later. ;)

I hope today flies! I'm looking forward to dinner tonight with some of the ladies, we are headed to a restaurant I've been meaning to go to for the longest time, I cannot wait!!

Have a fabulous day!

Britt

Finders Keepers....

Well after a long day yesterday, it was no rest for the weary and another long day today. 

Finally, got to bed last night by midnight....so about a 20 hour day.  I decided to pass on the 6am Kettlebell class and instead slept till 7am.  Ahhh sleep......

But then it was off to work I went.  Little creativity for breakfast... the usual.

-kashi heart to heart, greek yogurt, berries, almond butter and ground flax w/ an iced coffee

I was hungry this morning though.... maybe because I ate a lot of crap on the road.  ;)  So I had two mid-morning snacks.... a camera shy nectarine and this delicious Larabar.....

My snack was also fuel my my noon time run though.  I was relieved from noon time dog walking duty by my mother-in-law, so I headed out for a run from work (brought my clothes just incase).  It was a hot and steamy 4 miles, but felt SO GOOD after sitting in the car so much yesterday. 

So then I came back to my desk, had a huge glass of water and this yummy sandwich.

-flat out, chicken, green pepper, tomato, spinach, lil mayo

-side of extra tomato & green peppers

I had a post work meeting plan followed by some weeding so I knew I needed something to carry me through to dinner.  I headed to the cafe at work and found this almond granola & yogurt parfait, yum.  Also had a big cup of green tea.  

The parfait did the trick!  It held me over till 8:30 when I finally got home.  After work I had to attend a meeting for a beautification group that is part of our local Main Street program.  From there I went straight to meeting my weeding crew.... we weed various planting beds in the downtown area.  Tonight we weeded in front of our Chamber of Commerce/Visitors Center. 

As I was walking around I found a small wrapped box with the card attached that said the following on its outside.....

I opened up the card and this is what it said......
And inside the box...... 

What an amazing surprise!  I'm trying to decide now what to do....... my wonderful husband has provided me with some beautiful jewelry, I was thinking it might be nice to give it to someone else.... but who....   who would you give it to??

After weeding I had to wash my car, we are trying to sell it and have someone coming to check it out tomorrow!  Cross fingers!

Then it was home to finally eat.  I needed something FAST. 

So I heated up some herbed red potatoes, sauteed up some gorgeous string beans from our crop share, added 1/2 an avocado, a couple of walnuts, a baby bell cheese and a sprinkle of balsamic vinaigrette.  YUM!
CLOSE up.... look at those colorful string beans!!
And a glass of wine.... while I watch SYTYCD.   :)

My placemat I'm ashamed to say is my BRAND NEW MACBOOK!  However the hubby went to bed before I could set it up on our network... not sure how to do that on my own.  :(  My techy savvy ain't that good I guess. 

After my delish salad, I needed a little .... CHOCOLATE... so a small handful of chocolate chips. Perfection with my wine!

Now time for bed!!  Hope you had a fabulous day too.  So... let me know what YOU would do with the necklace I was surprised with.   :)

Britt

1 day, 950 miles......

That is what we drove yesterday. But every mile was worth it.

We went to our friend, Aviva's mother's funeral service yesterday. It was a LONG day, but Aviva and her husband Glenn have been gone from home for about a month now to be by her mother's side. She passed away from ovarian cancer at the young age of 63.

We have been friends with A & G for about 4 or so years. We met while on a volunteer committee for a to-be-constructed community rail trail. The hubby and I just clicked with them and we have been best couple friends ever since.... we hang out usually once a week or so, but usually more. We share a love of food, beverages, travel and politics. For over a year now A's mom has been battling ovarian cancer, we heard about the ups and downs along the and the last month has been a very difficult one for them. In reality all I really wanted to do was just give them both a big hug after all of this.... service or not, the long day was mainly to give them a hug.

Despite our 4+ year friendship with the distance from A's mom we never really got to know her all that well unfortunately.... but we learned so much about her yesterday at the service and it helped explain how A became who she is. It also was a bit of an "ah ha" moment for me in a way. To hear of all the amazing things A's mom did during her 63 years, she opitimized the saying "living life to the fullest"...... volunteer work, creative arts, political activism, travel, dedication to her friends and family, dedication to various charities and causes, never wanting to miss out, never wanting to give up..... living life with passion. It was truly an amazing service and I am glad we went.

I'll skip the food stuff for this post......just stick to remembering an amazing woman & reminding myself (and hopefully you) to live each day to the fullest and find your passion in life.

Britt

These are the insane people I Kettlebell with....

This is husband and wife....

The husband is doing a Turkish Getup with his wife!!!

Bell-erific Monday

So tonight's Kettlebell class was a good one, but must do a recap of the day first.

Started out with my usual breakfast, however it was at work instead of home as I was running late.

-kashi heart to heart, berries, greek yogurt, ground flax, almond butter

-iced coffee (switched to skim milk & sugar in the raw... better than splenda, right?)

Delish midmorning snack of nectarine!

Trudged through the day to lunch. Ate at my desk since I had to leave on time.

-flat out, left over grilled chicken, tomato, lettuce & little mayo

-left over cole slaw

Had the mid-afternoon munchies. Chugged a bunch of water but still hungry and out of food.... so I hit the cafe.... not sure how "smart" Smartfood is, but it filled me up.

After work I swung by the Farmers' Market to big up our crop share.... forgot to take a pic, but it included.... string beans, onions, baby turnips, tomatoes, green peppers, potatoes and beets. Yum!

I headed home to unload and change for Kettlebell. The hubby was suppose to come with me, but he got tied up at work.... as usual.

Tonight's class...

After a short warm up.

Suitcase lunges

Static Rows

See-Saw Press

Alternating Cleans

Double Chest Press

Side Planks

Did each for 40 seconds, 20 second break, repeat 5 times. I pushed myself tonight and did the "green bells" they are 26lbs each. The See-Saw presses & alternating cleans killed though, so eventually I had to go down in weight a bit to 20lb bells. It was an AWESOME class though. I felt so strong pressing those 26 pounders!!!

After class I was STARVING but had to still make dinner, so the most appealing quick snack was a big class of cold milk. :) That helped get me through the dinner prep process.

Nothing fancy and once again our timing was off....

Veggies were already.... But the turkey burgers were not. But we dug in anyways.

-Left over grilled turnips, carrots & zucchini.

-Tomato & basil salad (just tomatoes & basil tossed with some olive oil & balsamic vinegar)

Turkey Burger

- flat out, ground turkey with Montreal Chicken spices, tomato, baby bell light cheese and some ketchup. plus a glass of cab.
It was so tasty I had most of a second one. I was hungry after class!!!

Tomorrow is going to be a long one so I should hit the hay, need to pack some snacks first though. We are going to be up and out before 4am to get to the funeral. Its a 7-8 hour drive and we are going to attempt to go round trip in a day. Wish us luck!

Britt

So that is what 8 hours feels like.....

Holy moly, I actually got 8 hours of sleep last night!!! This is a very rare occurrance. But after a busy day of running, biking, shopping, etc. I was too tired to stay up past 10pm. So to sleep I went and slept right till 6am this morning. :)

I decided to skip the 6am Kettlebell class this morning, instead I'm going to go at 5:30 with the hopes that I can drag the hubby with me. I am the dedicated exerciser in our household, the hubby goes in cycles as far as his interest.... work gets in the way too for him. I'm a very independent person when it comes to exercise, I have my game plan and I try to stick to it.... he tends to only go do something if I'm going too or a friend of his is going, ie. he likes to do bike rides with a group of guys..... meanwhile I'd much prefer to run on my own.

Tonight's class shouldn't be too hard on him I hope....
Grab 2 bells. Repeat circuit 5 times.
Suitcase Lunges
Rows
See-Saw Press
Alternating Cleans
Double Chest Press
Side Plank

Breakfast was the usual... Kashi Heart to Heart, Okios Greek Yogurt, blueberries, strawberries, sprinkle of ground flax and small spoon of almond butter.

I'm hoping a little later I'll get to try a new peanut butter I picked up yesterday....
Peanut Butter & Co.'s The Bee's Knees. Its peanut butter blended with honey. They had some other yummy flavors too.... this could become an evil addiction..... White Chocolate Wonderful, Dark Chocolate Dreams, Mighty Maple.... Oh my!

Have a great day!

Britt

Sad news.....

While we were getting ready to make dinner tonight we got some sad news.... one of our good friends had her mother pass away. We knew it would be any day, but still it is hard to hear. She has been battling cancer for some time now, it had appeared she was recovering but unfortunately she did not. Its also a bit of an eye opener as I haven't really had many friends who have had a parent pass away.... especially a parent that is younger than my own. Hugs to my friend Aviva tonight.

As for dinner it was a bit poorly planned as the chicken, zuchinni and carrots were all done but the potatoes were not. So I only have a picture of the chicken & veggies. We just grilled everything. Chicken had Herbs de Provence on it, veggies had olive oil, pepper salt and a little garlic. The red potatoes that eventually got done just had some herbs on them too. Good dinner.

Not sure what our plans will be for the week, we hopefully will be able to make the funeral and then I'm not sure what that will do to my plans to possibly go to the beach to see my mom. But in some respects I would like to do both, especially spend some time with my mom.

Let your mom know who love her, you just don't know how much time you really have with her.

Britt

Slacker weekend.... blogging that is....

So I had great intentions to blog Friday night but I was computer-less. We are down to one laptop and my hubby uses it a lot for work. He was working late and had the computer with him, so no blogging possible.... I haven't been able to find any great Apps for my iPhone yet to do what I want. BUT the good news is we finally ordered me a new computer, hopefully my new MacBook will be in the mail soon. Yay!!

Back to Friday.

I had a great lunch with my mom, I met her during my lunch hour at the Portsmouth Tea Company. They have fabulous teas of course but also some yummy sandwiches, soups, salads, etc. I opted for half a sandwich and soup, as one of the soups was a chilled carrot ginger... YUM! I had the soup with half of a chicken salad sandwich on multi-grain, their chicken salad is delish done panini style with dried cranberries, almonds & sage. I had to get my favorite tea too, iced of course for summer.... the Geisha Green Tea.... so good! Its a tropical kind of green tea with coconut and pineapple flavor.

My mom is headed to a beach house they rent for the week, so we yapped about her plans for vacation. I'm hoping to get up there some time this up coming week, might take a day off to hang at the beach and get a run in.

So after lunch it was back to work. My late afternoon snack was a Larabar.

That Larabar was suppose to help fuel my 5 mile run after work, but the heavy downpour when I left work killed any motivation I had. So I caught up on some Tivo and snacked on some cheese, crackers & wine.... great substitute for a run, huh? Oh well. (oh and I had a few more crackers than the ones shown here)

At 7 I was off to the concert my hubby was working on, unfortunately it was suppose to have been out side... but the rain moved it in. It was a great show despite the change in venue. It didn't end till after 9:30 so the cheese & crackers earlier were a good idea. Afterwards I came home and had some camera shy leftovers.... whole wheat tortilla, chicken & cheese... relaxed and waiting for my hubby. We decided not to go out and instead chill and head to bed early.

Satuday morning we did our normal breakfast with my in-laws at a local place. I forgot to get a picture of my breakfast, but I did a breakfast sandwich.... english muffin, egg, american cheese and canadian bacon w/ a side of homefries.... my splurge breakfast of the week. :)

Then it was home to work on some projects around the house. Oh how do I HATE oil based paint.... it seems to get every where and is so hard to clean up! Once done though I headed out to do some errands and grabbed myself a Geisha Green Tea to go from Portsmouth Tea Company. Yum.
I grabbed a quick left over slice of cheeze pizza for lunch, as we had no food in the house and my wonderful father-in-law dropped off a left over pizza from Friday night's concert band food.

We walked into to town for a Pet Parade. Reggie had to join in on the action.

It was fun to see all the pooches and the few brave cats the showed up, as well as a lizard of some sort and a bunny.

It was a beautiful night so we decided to chill at home on our deck.

We grilled up some mesquite seasoned pork, string beans and I made a cole slaw from some carrots and cabbage from our CSA. I accidentally used more mayo than I wanted to in the cole slaw but it was yummy. I just used olive oil mayo and some white wine vinegar.
Yum!

I started off this morning with a 10 mile run, I love that I can go just a few miles from my house in town to this.....
I had a handful of Kashi Heart to Heart before I left and then when I got back had this.......
And some cold pizza. The breakfast of champions. I desperately need to grocery shop obviously!!!!!

So finally I got the the grocery store, but opted to hang on the deck after a bike ride to see some friends. Needed some munchy food so tortilla chips and fresh salsa...
And don't forget the wine... its a white table wine from a local vineyard.

Alright time to think about dinner!!!