nervous nelly

hey y'all! i'm sure everyone is prepping for a fun filled thanksgiving, but while everyone is enjoying the leftovers and black friday sales, i'll be filled with nervous anxiety when lsu plays arkansas in the battle of the boot. as some of you know, i'm a big lsu fan. i love my former state and i LOVE my school! BUT, i'm so nervous to play arkansas as they are number 3. my hope is to finish the season undefeated and have alabama lose to auburn (war eagle to all you auburn fans out there!!). i was so counting on oklahoma state to go undefeated, because no offense, but i know that the national title would be ours playing them or oregon in the big game. now, i'm so nervous to potentially go up against bama again! the silver lining in all of this is that whoever we play, we play in the superdome in new orleans - how's that for home field advantage?? :)

love

hey y'all....

i just wanted to share this wonderful interview with christine lagarde on 60 minutes. she's truly a role model and i am so in love with how she carries herself and her honesty of what is going on with the economy. my favorite part of the interview was when asked her thoughts on being the first woman managing director of the imf, she said that she doesn't care about being the first but she really hopes to not be the last.

running gear

hey y'all! so, of course being the big shopper that i am, i see this whole running craze that i have going on as a perfect opportunity to buy some cute gear! i did some investigating and ordered three pieces - a manzella headband, a pearl izumi half zip and a pair of asics thermopolis running pants. the headband was awesome and really kept me warm. the half zip kept me warm as well, but since i ran in warmer weather, i got hot pretty quickly. the pants feel really amazing and comfortable. so much so that i probably would use them to just run errands had i not signed up for my race. the only complaint i have, and it's not really a complaint about the pant itself, but it's that i'm so short that i feel like the pant leg is too long. i am thinking that when the temperatures drop in the dc area more, i will have to invest in another pair of tights. my next purchase is going to be a running vest - anyone have one they particularly like??

the half

hey y'all! since everyone (alice) has been clamoring for more information - i will be running my half marathon on march 17, 2012. it's part of the rock and roll marathon series, so a band should be playing every couple of miles. i still haven't looked at the race course, but i'm thinking that avoiding won't help much. the great thing is that i actually have a PLAN! the next couple of weeks, i'm going to prep for my 5k race to establish a good base for the half training. any tips for me?

hello...is thing on?

hey y'all! i'm wondering if there is anyone out there??? and if not, that's okay, i think i'm going to really try this time to blog again - third time's a charm right?
basically, i just want to be accountable to myself because i've signed up for a half marathon. i'm going to use this space to keep track of my training. first up - the run with santa 5k here in rockville, maryland!

resolution update

Hey y’all!

So far keeping up with the “blogging more often” resolution is a total FAIL, but I’m happy to report that I have not eaten any meat (with the exception of seafood) the whole month of January!

I think it helped me really think about what to order and to not just go for the usual. To continue this type of eating, I have decided that I will try to limit my meat to once a week. Also, I have decided to start weight watchers again. I feel like I was able to shed some pounds on it, but I did not like the low fat aspect of it. So, for this go around, I’m sticking to “real” food – food that is not processed or has a lot of other things that I can’t pronounce. If you are up for some vegetarian options at home, try the following recipe from the Best Light Recipe cookbook.


1 tablespoon cumin seeds (i used cumin powder)

1 med. onion minced

1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded & chopped fine

9 med. garlic cloves, minced or pressed thru a garlic press (about 3 tablespoons)

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon veg. oil

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

salt

3 cups beans drained & rinsed (i used pinto, black, red kidney)

2 cups water

1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1 tablespoon of lime juice



1. toast cumin seeds in a large Dutch oven over med.-low heat, stirring constantly until fragrant, 1 minute. stir in the onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, oil, cayenne & 1/2 teaspoon salt. cover & cook, stirring often, until veggies have softened, about 8 to 10 mins

2. stir in the beans, water, tomatoes, oregano & brown sugar, scraping any browned bits. bring to a boil over med.-high heat; reduce the heat to med-low and simmer until the chili is slightly thickened, about 25 mins

3. stir in the corn & continue to simmer until heated thru, 5 to 10 mins; off the heat, stir in the cilantro and lime juice and season w/ salt to taste



*the chili can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days

veggie tales

hey y'all!
just wanted to give y'all an update on eating more veggies - so far so good. i don't miss meat yet since i've been eating some fish & other seafood. i made a vegetarian chili on sunday, and to my surprise, it actually turned out pretty tasty.
i've been doing jillian two days so far, and it's kicking my butt, but i think i'm in a groove with it. tomorrow is biggest loser yoga, so watch out for that review.
hope y'all are keeping up with your resolutions :)