PetCo Is Cheaper Than The Zoo & Other Friday Faves

TGIF! 

Friday Faves

I love that a quick trip to PetCo can replace an expensive trip to the zoo sometimes. We had 15 minutes to kill yesterday and PetCo was near by. At Nelpe's age, a few tanks of fish and two dogs getting groomed are all you need for entertainment!

The outdoors! At our old house we used to have a playground in our backyard. Without a playground, we are finding other things to play with in the backyard and it's been enjoyable! And I adore this picture of Nelps just chillin' in her Red Range ;)

Wow That's Fresh is fairly new to the area. It is owned by the same people at PDQ. Instead of chicken, their menu consists of burgers, pizza, and salad. This Peanut Butter & Jelly pizza is part of their Kid's Menu. We ordered it as a dessert (a really big dessert!) I thought it was really good, especially with the blueberries in the jelly! 

This weekend is wedding weekend for a great friend of ours! Sophia is one of the flower girls so the festivities start this evening at the rehearsal dinner.I rented a dress off RentTheRunway.com and its supposed to arrive tonight. Thank goodness they give two size options because with it being so close, I'm super nervous about how they are going to fit! I'll post pictures of the dress on my Monday Weekend Recap post!

The Bride and I circa 2010 during our party years!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!! See you Monday with a recap of the wedding glam!

What are your plans this weekend?

Have you been to Wow That's Fresh?

XOXO

#RUNSarasota Race Recap

First Watch Sarasota Half Marathon Recap 

This past Sunday I ran my fourth Half Marathon, but it was my first half marathon as a blogger. I was given a free entry into the race courtesy of the Tampa Bay Bloggers in exchange for a race recap post. **All opinions are my own**

Training started in January. Every week for two months we trained. We had long runs every weekend, and actually stuck to the training plan. We ran Gasparilla and I had a PR for the 8k! Then we moved…The two weeks before this half, we ran maybe 5 times and 6 miles was the longest run. Our whole routine was off and running was put to the side while we got situated in our new temporary living quarters.

I was nervous at first, but then thought that I would just run at my own pace and enjoy the views of this race. No reason for pressure. Just finish the race with a smile…

The morning of the race started super early. Like 4:30 a.m. early. The race was located in Sarasota, by St. Armand’s Circle, which is about an hour away from our home. I got up, told Angelo to make coffee, and hopped in the shower to wake myself up. Coffee + shower = me wide awake and ready to go! Breakfast was a piece of toast with peanut butter. I only ate half of it because my appetite was still sleeping…being it 4:30am and all.
We scooped up my sister-in-law, Katie, on our way.

By the time we got parked and walked up to the starting area, it was already 6:30. Race started at 7:00. I had to use the bathroom after the long drive, and the bathroom lines were outrageously long and moving super slow. Do you ever wonder why you get stuck in the slowest lines?! We finally walked up to the starting line with under 5 minutes to go. At this time I realized that I left one of my Gu’s in the bag Angelo had checked for us. Damnnnn.

I ripped into my one chocolate Gu while walking to the starting line.

Source: LifeTime Athletic Events

I was placed in the A group so we made our way to the front of the crowd. We ended up literally at the front of the crowd. There were maybe 5 people in-between me and the starting line. That was a first. I’m usually positioned somewhere in the middle of the group. This made me a little nervous because I knew it would make me feel like I had to run faster, therefore making my first couple miles too fast, and tiring me out too fast.  My goal was to finish at or under 2:00. This means I had to have an average pace of 9 min/mile or less. That was do-able in my mind. But I knew it wouldn't be easy and it would take some pushing myself.

Mile 1 was run at pace 8:06. By the time I was at mile 5, my pace went to 9:30. Between mile 1 and mile 5, we ran up and down a bridge, TWICE! This killed me and I was almost dead by mile 5. I will say that the view and sunrise while running the bridge was beautiful!

Slowing but surely the different pacers started passing me. I REALLY didn’t want to walk at any point, but my hips were starting to feel extremely tight. I gave in and started walking at every water station. I would grab a water or Gatorade, take a few seconds to drink it and walk. Then start running again once I was done. 

I got my “second wind” around mile 6 where the relay runners were switching places. I was both jealous and happy to see this. Jealous that these runners were either beginning or ending the race. Happy that this meant I was half way done! Miles 6-9 were much better and my pace stayed between 9 and 9:30.

There was a Pub along the race path between mile 8-9  that was handing out drinks. I thought it was water. It was pink and the thought of it being some type of liquor went through my head…it WAS from a pub. I took a tiny sip and I think it was some sort of flavored water or lemonade. No idea, but thank goodness it wasn't liquor or I probably would have puked on the person running in front of me.

Everything hit me again at mile 10. I was cursing my legs when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Katie found me and said “Only three more miles!” At this time we were running through a neighborhood with little to no good scenery. I couldn't possibly go any faster or slower than I was going at 9:30-9:40 pace. You know when you get to that point when walker hurts more than running. I was at that point and I could taste the finish line. I could taste the huge bottle of water I was going to chug when I got there! The signs we were running past told me there were pancakes waiting for me…I didn't want pancakes. I wanted a ginormous cup of cold water. My body was craving water.

My NikePlus trainer app told me I was at mile 13, I turned a corner and the finish line was RIGHT there! A smile emerged on my face and I heard angels singing (No joke, I really think I did).

Timing tracker & Photos courtesy of LifeTime Athletic Events

I ended up finishing at 2:01:50!!!!!! Seriously?! I was 1:50 past my goal time and that stung a little. Although I was just past my goal time, I am still very proud of myself, Angelo, and Katie for finishing. Half marathons are not easy. They are both physically and mentally challenging. But having my goal so close has made me eager to sign up for another half and FINALLY get under 2:00.

My next half marathon is still undetermined. I will be signing up for one next week; I just have to figure out which one.

Any suggestions for my next half marathon?

Recipe: Thai Lettuce Wraps

Happy St.Patrick's Day!! Are you wearing green today? I got pinched this morning while making breakfast, so I put on green shoes before I left the house. I swore I had a shamrock shirt, but with the move...I can't really find anything. :)

Let me start by saying I know this recipe is the opposite of Irish and everything today represents. Tonight we going total Irish and making corned beef and cabbage, with red potatoes, and Irish soda bread! Should be yummy!

Also, this is a "later-post" as I made these lettuce wraps last week.  

I want to say these were PF Chang's inspired, but I have a confession to make. I've never been to PF Changs. There was a time when I REALLY wanted to go, just because I had never been. We were in Miami a couple years ago and PF Changs was very close to our hotel. We were meeting some Miami locals for dinner and I suggested it. They were almost horrified that I wanted to go there and that's the end of that story. One day I'll make it there. Until then, I'll be making these lettuce wraps. And let's be honest...these are probably better. Homemade is the best-made!

What you’ll need:

1 tbsp. EVOO
1 lb. organic, grass-fed ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced

3 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp. grated ginger
1 tsp sriracha
1 (8 oz.) can diced water chestnuts, drained
2 green onions, sliced

1-2 carrots, grated
handful of cilantro
1 head butter Lettuce


What you do:

Heat EVOO in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned. Make sure to crumble the meat as it cooks. Drain excess fat.

Stir in garlic, onion, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and sriracha sauce. Cook and constantly stir until onions are clear. 

Stir in chestnuts and green onions. Let cook for 2 minutes. Turn off heat.
In a separate bowl, mix together grated carrots and cilantro.

To serve, spoon beef mixture into the center of a lettuce leaf (taco style) and top with carrot and cilantro mix.

Enjoy!

**I add some extra sriracha sauce on ours, because we like them spicy! You can top with plain Greek yogurt.
**For the girls lettuce wraps, I took out a small bowl of the ground beef before adding the sriracha in while cooking.

Are you making an Irish themed lunch or dinner today? 

XOXO

Weekend Recap: Tea Party & Sports

Happy Monday!!

Today is the first day back into a routine since two weeks ago!! All my work stuff is some what organized into my new office at work, Sophia is back in school, and my body is kind of achy, but that good ache that everyone has a love/hate relationship with. All that makes a good start to the week!!

This weekend was FULL to the tippy top of activities.

Saturday we went to a Tea Party to celebrate one of our very best friends, Harper, turning two!

Sunday we woke up at the butt crack of dawn and headed to Sarasota to run the 

FirstWatch Sarasota Half Marathon (Race Recap Post later this week).

After the race we went back home to take a nap, then headed in the other direction to Orlando to watch Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic. Angelo may have been a little annoyed with Sophia wanting everything in the Orlando Magic gift shop! lol Just kidding. We came back to our seats with a little Magic basketball and he looked at me like "You actually bought that?!" :)

 Ice cream & Basketball 

We loved being little tourist in the Amway Arena, while Angelo was glued to Lebron's forehead. It was our first time there and the place is beautiful!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! The weather was kind of perfect here in Tampa! 

XOXO

Sleeping In & Other Friday Faves

TGIF! The week has come to an end, and it flew by! I was nervous at the beginning of the week about what to do to entertain the girls this Spring Break, but it actually went very well and all is good! Why do moms worry about things so much? :) Anyways, the weekend ahead is jam packed with birthday parties, half marathons, and basketball games! There is also so much going on around Tampa this weekend! If I didn't already have plans, we would of definitely hit up the PGA Tour Valspar Championship. 

Friday Faves
Sleeping in
This week both the girls have been sleeping in hard! I'm not going to lie, I've been sleeping in too. But it's been nice to wake up later AND still have an hour to myself. Every morning when Angelo leaves for work he reminds me that I DON'T get to sleep in next week. He's jealous. ;)

Today is my best friend's daughter's birthday. Harps is TWO years old today! Party this weekend to celebrate the birthday princess!

Since we finally sold our old house, we've slowly been getting ready to build a new one! On Wednesday we went out to the property and got to figure out how the house will lay out. Every time we go out there, it's so peaceful and calm...and I absolutely LOVE the feeling.

Nelpe does EVERYTHING Sophia does. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad. Brushing of the teeth, that's a good!

Last night's dinner was this delicious Sweet Potato and chicken sausage bake and deserves a spot on the fave list. Recipe to be posted. 

Around the Web:
This Elephant knows how to Party. Elephants are my favorite!

This smile puts the biggest smile on my face! Love is truly blind.

What are your plans this weekend?
Any new recipes that you are loving this week?

Hope everyone has a beautiful weekend!!

XOXO

Life as a Work-At-Home-Mom

I recently registered my 16 month old baby girl/coworker/boss/partner for school starting in August. I was leaving the school office and stopped to chat with two different women, at two different times. Both of these women said something to the fact of "what will you do with all your time?!"
I looked at them with my eyes wide open (like hello!!) and said "Well...for one thing, I'll actually get my work done!"
One of them said "Oh yeah, I forgot you work..." and another said "I didn't know you worked!"

Let me start off by saying:
Just because I look like hell every morning at school drop off, doesn't mean I don't work.

Just because I'm at almost all school functions/parties doesn't mean I don't work.

Just because I volunteer, doesn't mean I don't work.

I'm sure they didn't mean any harm making those comments, but it kinda stings a bit when you bust your butt every day and people think all you do is go to mommy&me classes. But, then again what do I care what other people think? ;)

I know there are thousands of people (mommies and daddies) that are in the same situation as I am. I have a job. Like a job I get an actual paycheck from. A job other than my job as mom where my paycheck consists of  love, temper tantrums, and extra chores. I work for this job every.single.day. at the same time as I'm doing my "mom" job. I'm just a lucky gal and get to work while a baby disrupts me every 2-60 seconds. Is that lucky? :) The grass is always greener...right?

This week happens to be Spring Break so with both my girls at home, my job juggle gets harder. While my girls come before anything in my world, sometimes I have to plop them in front of the TV so I can get some work done. Yep, I know it's not the "right" thing to do, but it happens and that's real life.

With the move and spring break, I am currently still entering data into Quickbooks from February. This may or may not give me anxiety attacks at night. :) 

Just to give you an idea, I've recorded one of my working days for you:

6:00 - 6:30: Wake up, shower, get dressed. Doing all this is 30 minutes is the reason why I look like hell every morning. Yoga pants nonstop.

6:30 - 7:00: Make breakfast for Angelo & I, get dogs breakfast, pack up Sophia's school bag, sit down and devour my breakfast and coffee for 5 minutes. These 5 minutes are sometimes the only alone time I get with Angelo all day. And that's OK, 5 minute dates are better than none. 

7:00 - 7:45: Wake up girls, get them changed and teeth brushed, and serve them breakfast (waffle, bagel, oatmeal, or egg...)

7:45: Leave for school.

8:00: Walk Sophia into school, say hi to everyone while looking like hell. 

8:15 - 9:00: Go to bank to make daily work deposit, drive home

9:00 - 9:45: Get home, let dogs out, play with Nelpe for a little while, get situated in the office, play with Nelpe while getting my computer loaded up. 

9:45 - 10:30: Nelpe starts to fall asleep (on a good day). I check my email and blog. Do some Link Love (comment on other blog posts), and start writing out my blog post to launch tomorrow.

10:30 - Get a call from husband telling me that I need to make sure to get something done today (contact bank, respond to a letter, send out a check, etc). Yeah Yeah Yeah :) Finish my blog post and start doing accounting work.

11:30: Nelpe wakes up and roams the house while I get a few more minutes squeezed into work. Right now I'm going over daily bank transactions and matching them to individual order numbers. Like "this engine we bought from S&S on 01/23 was for Order#151236". I'm down to the last transaction for a specific day and Nelpe starts whining for me to pick her up.

11:45: I have finally put in the last two transactions into Quickbooks, while picking up Nelpe 4 different times.

12:00: Make Nelpe and I some lunch. Sit her down with her lunch. Go back to office to start putting in orders into Quickbooks.

12:15: Nelpe is done with her lunch and comes into office to sit on my lap. She grabs at whatever pen/highlighter I'm holding, or the keyboard. She throws a tantrum every time I put her down or take a pen away from her. This can last 5-20 minutes.

12:30: Nelpe is happy with a marker and piece of paper. So I get a good 30 minutes of work done. I look up and Nelpe is writing on a baby doll, piece of furniture, or dog with marker.

1:00: Nelpe sits on my lap. She starts slamming on the keyboard and suddenly everything on my computer screen closes and my keyboard isn't working. I put her down with my phone to play with while I figure out what the heck she did to my computer.

1:30: I get everything back to working and Nelpe is playing with her toys (Oh you actually play with toys?!) 

2:00: Save all my work, close computer, and leave to go pick Sophia up from school.

That's the end of my work day. The rest of the day is spent with the girls, cleaning up the house, making dinner, and going for a run once Angelo gets home. 

For all those parent's who have tried to get computer work done while having kids along side you, I feel ya!! It's not easy, and sometimes you might pull your hair out. It makes for some long days, but short years. I wouldn't trade it for the world, it's my life, and it works for now. 

You know the best part of being a Work-At-Home-Mom? I make my own schedule. And yesterday, this was my job.

XOXO

#GiveandGrub & Tuesday Thoughts

Last night I went to a blogger event with the Tampa Bay Bloggers. It was such a fun event with GiveandGrub They are a local food truck who donates a meal to a child in need for every meal sold AND every use of the hasgtage #giveandgrub on Twitter and Instagram. 
With over 700,000 people in the Tampa Bay going hungry every,single.day, this is a super easy and delicious way to help and STICK IT TO HUNGER!

I felt honored to be a part of their blogger event last night and the unveiling of their newest menu item, a cheese steak sandwich with sweet potato fries that were out of this world! Anything drizzled with melted butterscotch and marshmallow has my vote for best thing ever!
If you frequent the Tampa Bay Lightning games, you've probably seen their green and blue truck parked in the plaza. Next time you spot them, purchase one of their amazing gourmet meals and support the cause! Their food is made with quality ingredients and ensure happy taste buds and belly!  

Not your average food truck foods right there! :) 

Tuesday Thoughts

Since it's Spring Break I feel like the first thing on my mind everyday I wake up, or last thing on my mind before I go to bed is "What are we going to do tomorrow?" as if just because it's Spring Break we HAVE to do something. Can't we just chill? We have a busy weekend ahead so this week will consist of random outings and of course FUN! Like today, Sophia & Nelps get to tag along to the office and watch mommy get a few things done, See, FUN!

Yesterday we re-joined the YMCA. We had a membership there when I was pregnant with Nelps since it was too hot for me to run outside during the summer. I'm excited to switch up my fitness routine and go to some classes like Spin and BodyPump! I'm also excited to take the girls to the splash pool this summer! They're going to love it! 

I am running in the FirstWatch Sarasota Half Marathon on Sunday and my training has been less than stellar these past two weeks. I'm going to go ahead,be lame, and throw out an excuse...it's because of the moving and falling out of routine! I'm nervous for the run, and kind of bummed because I was planning on kicking some butt, but now I'm planning on just running at my regular pace (9:00-9:30 min/mile) just to finish without passing out. :) 

I have a weird throat thing going on. I lost my voice and my throat is scratchy/itchy. No fun. and another reason I'm nervous for the half marathon on Sunday. 

I ordered a dress from RentTheRunway! We have a fancy wedding next weekend, so I ordered a beautiful dress to be fancy! I can't wait to take pictures in it and show you! Hopefully it fits perfect! :) Have you ever rented a dress? 

I need to start working on my posture. I looked at a picture this morning of myself and my back was hunched over and BLAH! It made me cringe. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday! It should be a good one! :) 

XOXO