Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Some more knitting

I made a scarf for my besties for her birthday back in December.
The yarn was the same one I used for her daughter's cuddle cloth.  I love matching things!




Then I made a scarf for another besties for Christmas.  I was a little late with finishing it, so she got it last week :)
This picture is featured on the designers page on Raverly!  How cool is that!
Now I am working on a baby blanket for G's cousin's baby-to be, some socks, and another little girl scarf.  I really am loving knitting!
My mom made the blanket underneath the sock.


Enjoy!
ELH

Sunday, January 27, 2013

WWW


Mon, Jan 21st  Tired morning, so Molly and I just walked 3miles in the afternoon.
Tues, Jan 22ndBootcamp AM!
Wed, Jan 23rdMorning run in the dark.  3.02 miles in 29:01.  Molly and I walked 1.7miles in the afternoon.  Ready for the time to change so it won’t be soo dark in the mornings.  My perfect sun-up to sun-down is 6:30am to 7:30pm.
Splits –
Mile 1 – 9:36
Mile 2 – 9:55
Mile 3 – 9:16
0.02miles @ 8:46

Thurs, Jan 24thMore bootcamp!
Fri, Jan 25thEarly morning at work (7:30am) to late day at work (5:45pm).  I wanted to go to bikram, but got home too late, so Molly and took another walk in the dark.  Only 1.26miles.

Sat, Jan 26th“Long” run – trying to fall back in love with running without burning myself out.  4.01miles in 36:13 and a 2.0mile cool down walk with Molly.
Splits –
Mile 1 – 9:09
Mile 2 – 8:56
Mile 3 – 8:50
Mile 4 – 9:09

Sun, Jan 27thBikram!  I think I might be getting a cold…woke up with a scratchy throat.  Yuck!

Enjoy!
-ELH

Friday, January 25, 2013

New Years Eve dinner

One of my besties and her family were in town for a wedding, so they stayed a few extra days to hang out with us!!
It was a wonderful time.
We decided to stay in the for the evening, since one of our visitors was a 5month old cutie!


I've had Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol 1 & 2 for a few years, but haven't made anything.  New Years Eve seemed like the perfect time!

Everyone napping while I cook!

I made boeuf bourguignon with mushrooms and onions.  I also made garlic mashed potatoes and G made tomato, cucumber, red onion salad with a pomegranate vinaigrette dressing.








 As an appetizer, I also made these baked cheese bites (found on pinterest) but with goat cheese and homemade green chile jelly! (without the sticks)

Dinner was a hit! and everything was tasty (or so I was told.  I don't eat red meat or pork, so no bourguignon for me!)
Pottery Barn Reindeer table setting.


It only took a few years to get the whole collection!  Love it!


Dessert was pretty difficult :)  A variety of single size ice creams with a few rousing games of rummikub!

We rung in the New Year with Gruet champagne and flipping between Ryan Seacrest and Carson Daly.  Fun times!
It was a wonderful way to ring in 2013!
Hope you had a great New Years and are having a great 2013.
ELH
























Sunday, January 20, 2013

WWW


Mon, Jan 14thOff/rest day.  I was planning on a morning walk with Molly and G, but it was pouring out.  Yuck!  It actually rain until Friday, so there wasn’t any running or walking during the week.  Double Yuck!

Tues, Jan 15thBoot camp!  My friend was there, so it was fun to chat during the workout!

Wed, Jan 16thMore crappy weather and I had an early morning meeting, so a workout didn’t fit into the cards today.

Thurs, Jan 17thBoot camp day!  We did lots of leg work.

Fri, Jan 18thUnplanned off/rest day.  I forgot to turn my alarm on, so I missed bootcamp.   Opps!

Sat, Jan 19th1st of the week and since the 15k.  It was a chilly morning ~35deg, perfect January running weather in my opinion!  I didn’t push myself and only paid attention to my watch to make sure I ran 4miles.  It felt great and I enjoyed myself.  I needed this run to help with my mental state.
Splits – 4.01 miles in 37:02
Mile 1 – 9:14
Mile 2 – 9:17
Mile 3 – 9:15
Mile 4 – 9:12

After, we took Molly for a 2mile cool-down walk.  This was her first walk of the week since the weather had been so crappy.  We also walked ~1.5miles in the afternoon (left my watch at home) to a nearby baseball park, hoping we could throw tennis balls at Molly, but the fields were occupied.  It was nice to get out of the house again!

Sun, Jan 20th2mile walk with Molly and lots of chores around the house.  That counts as working out?!?

Not a very exciting workout week!  We all were feeling house bound on by Saturday.  This upcoming week looks to be sunny, so I hope to get the running and walking mileage up!
Enjoy!
-ELH

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Mixed Nuts - furry addition

If you haven't figured it out by now, I love cats!  I have always had a cat growing up and now have 2 of my own!

So this edition of Mixed Nuts includes iphone pictures of kitties and Molly!
Sharing the top perch on their cat tree.  Like Arti's Christmas bow.

Arti likes sleeping on Molly's bed.

Parent's cat - Germi

Parent's other cat - Galli Girl - they both don't like getting their pictures taken, so sorry for the blurriness!



Enjoying the sun in wine boxes!
 
This is how Arti helps fold the warm laundry!




Molly wonders why her Christmas bow is so small? I ran out of ribbon!?!

What animal pictures are on your phone?
Enjoy!
ELH

Sunday, January 13, 2013

WWW


Mon, Jan 7thI got up and went to bootcamp, but the door was locked.  I knocked a few times and waited ~10min, but no one answeredL  Boo!  Molly, G, and I walked 2.11 miles in the afternoon and I did some abs and arm weights to make up for the missed class.

Tue, Jan 8th3.5mile tempo run – I really like this run!
10min easy warm-up – 1mile @9:52,
3 x {5min fast – 1st: 0.59miles @8:36, 2nd: 0.60miles @8:22, 3rd: 0.59miles @8:27
         2min easy}
0.43miles easy warm-down @9:02

Wed, Jan 9thBootcamp was up and running! 

Thurs, Jan 10thEasy 2mile run.  1st mile @ 8:49 and 2nd mile @ 9:02.

Fri, Jan 11thOff/rest day!

Sat, Jan 12thBikram yoga morning!  My new (we bought it mid-November) car was scratch in the parking lot.  If it wasn’t soo new, we probably wouldn’t worry about it, but the car is ~2months old!  Annoying!

Sun, Jan 13thHot Chocolate 15k.  This was my first race back from foot surgery and I haven’t had a great time running recently, so my goal was to finish under 90min.  My official time was 1:29.02 – 9:34min average pace.  The 5k split was 28:54 and the 10k split was 58:44. 
This course was hilly and it was hot, +60F!  Last weekend, when I felt good the temp was ~25F! and I wore pants, a dry fit t-shirt, a dry fit long sleeve shirt, a light weight fleece, and gloves.  Today, I wore shorts, a tank top, and a started with a long sleeve dry fit shirt.  I happened to see G around mile 2 and was able to give him my shirt.  Awesome hubby.  After about 5miles, both feet started to hurt.  They felt sore and like I was rubbing the balls of my feet raw.  So because of foot pain, heat, and hills I did do a little more walking that I wanted.  Oh well. 

Splits from my watch –
Mile 1 – 8:45
Mile 2 – 8:52
Mile 3 – 9:50 ->walked the water stop and stopped to take my long sleeve shirt off
Mile 4 – 9:20
Mile 5 – 9:26
Mile 6 – 9:54
Mile 7 – 10:03
Mile 8 – 10:05
Mile 9 – 9:25
0.3 @ 8:28 – This would put my time at 1:28.09 – not sure how my watch was 1min off the official time, but oh well!
0.11 @ 7:20
Total time – 1:28.54 – 9.4miles

I am signed up for a half marathon is March that uses part of this course.  Not sure how great that will be!

What have you been up to this past week?  Any races on the docket?
Enjoy!
ELH

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Office light

One of my favorite blogs - Young House Love just created a lighting line at Shades of Light and I love this light for the office.  The color is perfect!


Reminder picture of the office - 

This old picture shows the current light - Yuck!

What do you think?  Do you like exposed lights?  That is the one thing I am not 100% sure about.
We have 2 other styles of these lights and I want to replace them...just not sure with what.
-ELH

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Poop!

I clean up a lot of poop!
2 cat litter boxes and I pick up after Molly on our walks....not to get to gross, but she has 3 styles of poo on the walk.  She goes twice and I clean up both.  I clean up both!!

Our house is on the corner and dogs seem to like to poo.... ALL THE TIME on OUR LAWN!

 
I'm thinking of putting up a sign - Clean Up Your Poo! and maybe providing a few doggie bags.

Thoughts??
How do I keep poo off my grass?
Yuck!
-ELH

Monday, January 7, 2013

1st WWW of 2013!


Tues, Jan 1stHappy New Year!
Wed, Jan 2nd2.14mile run in 20:26 and 2mile easy walk with Molly.  This run felt awful!  Why can’t running be fun?!?
Splits –
Mile 1 @9:32
~2min walk break – trying to decide to continue with another 3miles or turn around… turn around won.
1mile @8:54

Thurs, Jan 3rd3.0mile walk with Molly and a few hours of prepping and painting the office door and office closet door.

Fri, Jan 4thBikram yoga!  And more painting of our interior doors (second coat on office doors and first coat on the bathroom and guest bedroom)!

Sat, Jan 5thLong run day with a large group of people.  I did run 1.1miles before because we were only planning on running 7miles and I needed to run 8miles.
Splits –
Mile 1 - 9:47
0.1miles @9:10

With the group –
Mile 1 – 9:55 – cold, slow start!
Mile 2 – 9:44
Mile 3 – 9:28
Mile 4 – 9:09 – I felt great!  No problems with congestion or my legs feeling tired!
Mile 5 – 9:01
Mile 6 – 9:03
Mile 7 – 9:28 – hilly finish to the run
0.31miles @9:02

Totals – 1.1miles in 10:41 and 7.31miles in 1:08.93

This was a great run and helped with my confidence for the 15k race next Sunday!

Sun, Jan 6th1.79 mile walk with G and Molly and then the last coat of paint on the bathroom and guest room doors!

Hope your New Year is starting off amazingly!
-ELH

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Fall 2012 book review


The fall has been busy and I haven’t really been interested in reading.  Nothing has grabbed me.  One of my New Year’s resolutions is to finish 3 books I have started and pushed aside – Murder in Marais by Cara Black, Death Comes to Pemberly by PD James, and A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson.  Also, I started reviewing books on Goodreads, so some of the reviews are repeats and I am going to include the ratings (x out of 5 stars.)

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
This book is quite popular and I would say the first 75% was awesome and I couldn’t put it down.  The ending was disappointing, to say the least.  It felt like the author rushed to finish the story to meet a deadline, but it does leave room for future stories.
3 stars

Winter of the World - #2 in the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett
From Goodreads, “Winter of the World picks up right where the first book left off, as its five interrelated families—American, German, Russian, English, Welsh—enter a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the Spanish Civil War and the great dramas of World War II, up to the explosions of the American and Soviet atomic bombs.”
The second book focuses on the children who are now adults and starting their own lives and families.  It was a great 2nd book in this historical fiction trilogy.  I would recommend checking out this series.
3 stars

Merry Christmas Alex Cross by James Patterson
This was a Christmas present from G.  We have a 7 year tradition of him sending me an Alex Cross book, so I would have something to open at my parents house on Christmas morning.  The past 3 years we have both been at my parents house and he still sends the book!  Love it!
It was great to read that Alex and his family are doing well! This was a very quick read.  I started it on a 3hr flight and had 80 pages left when we landed!  It is a must read if you keep up with Alex Cross.
3 stars

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Guest review from a Bestie – “This was a little creepier and more fantastic than I generally like my YA books. The first half was gripping. The second half was just okay. Not sure if I'll continue with the series.”  My sentiments exactly!  I did like the use of old photographs to create an interesting story.  If you do read it, get the paper copy!
3 stars

The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
I knew this book had adult content and that is no joke!  If they made it into a movie it would be R – death, teenage sex, rape, and more death.  If you are looking for a depressing book, then this is a great book!  Otherwise, skip it!
2 stars

Elsewhere by Richard Russo
I listened to this book, narrated by Russo.  I really like all of his other books, so it was fun and interesting to hear him talk about his life.  It was a very nice tribute to his mother and helps set the scenes for some of his popular books.  If you haven’t checked out any Russo books, then I would recommend you do.  Empire Falls is a good start, then check out this book.
4 stars

What books have you been reading?  Any recommendations?
Enjoy!
ELH 

Thursday, January 3, 2013

December mileage and yearly totals

Running - 47.00miles (up ~30miles from November)
Walking - 32.89miles (down ~5miles from November)
 

Yearly totals - 
Running = 402.2 miles
Walking = 268.13 miles
 
Very proud of myself!  Running mileage is down - oh well!  Walking mileage is up, 79miles compared to last year!!
Enjoy!
-ELH

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Last WWW of December 2012


Sun, Dec 23rdLazy day at my parents house making 100+ piergoies!, catching up with a besty, and walking to a local yarn shop with G – 2.5miles.
Mon, Dec 24th2.20 mile easy run in 19:41 in fridged temps! Then a 1.96mile walk to Starbucks with my Mom and G.
Splits –
Mile 1 @ 8:51
Mile 2 @ 9:08
0.2miles @ 8:27
I was surprised that my legs felt good, but still dealing with lingering congestion.

Tues, Dec 25thMerry Christmas!! 1.1mile neighborhood walk with Mom and G.
Wed, Dec 26th2.30 mile easy run in 20:40 and again in fridged temps! And a 2.04mile walk to Starbucks with my Mom and G.
Splits –
Mile 1 @ 9:09
Mile 2 @ 8:47
0.3miles @ 9:00

Thurs, Dec 27th1.87 mile walk to Starbucks with Mom and G. 
Fri, Dec 28th1.99mile walk to Starbucks with Mom and G – did you pick up on the holiday pattern?!?
Sat, Dec 29thLong run! 7.26mile in 1hr 9min.  Not a fun run at all – out of breath because of congestion, heavy legs, and feet that didn’t feel good… Yuck!!
Splits –
Mile 1 @9:09
Mile 2 @9:19
Mile 3 @9:03
0.5miles @9:20
2min 30sec walk/rest/eat/blow my nose break
0.38miles @9:28
1mile @9:12
0.67miles @9:13
2min walk/rest break
0.23miles @9:08
1mile @9:06
0.26miles @9:13

Sun, Dec 30thErrand day!
Mon, Dec 31st3.5mile tempo run – This run felt great, even running up hill.  I think the walk breaks help!
10min easy warm-up – 1mile @9:58
3 x {5min fast – 1st: 0.6miles @8:19, 2nd: 0.59miles @8:29, 3rd: 0.59miles @8:26
         2min easy}
0.4miles easy warm-down @9:01

Yearly totals coming soon...
-ELH