Smiley Face Mugs, Granola Bars, and Special Shout Outs!

Hello! I'm finally back again after another 3 day break from the blog. I promise this won't become a regular thing. It's been a busy week of trying to pack lots of things in to each day before I leave tomorrow night for vacation!

There's so much I want to put in this post so I'm going to jump right into things...

First of all, after I was done getting work done Tuesday night, I went home and was feeling extra nice so I made chocolate chip cookies for the guys as a special treat when they got back from their gig. I used the Nestlé Tollhouse recipe (minus the nuts and subbing half whole wheat flour instead of all AP flour).

Perfect mix between gooey and fluffy!

Wednesday Eats: 

Breakfast- Light and Fit Blueberry Acai yogurt with flax, blueberries, strawberries, and Kashi sprinkled on top...grapefruit too! Not gonna lie...I also had one of my leftover chocolate chip cookies...they were just too good to resist. Plus, if you're going to indulge in sweets, it's better to do so in the morning anyway because then you have the whole day to burn it off!

Lunch- A nice juicy farmers market peach before heading to workout
Dinner- I went with the guys to their gig in stone harbor, but I sat in a coffee shop and got some more work done, so dinner was packed to go with me!- carrots and hummus, kashi crackers with a "light" spreadable swiss cheese wedge, Chobani blood orange greek yogurt with berries and grapes dipped in! I also got hungry later that night and had some more crackers and a handful of raisins (I've been addicted to these guys lately).

I also had a nice pick me up from Starbucks...iced coffee with soy milk!

Wednesday Workout: 

Joey and I had to pick up the pottery we painted last week in Ocean City so we decided to do our long run on the boardwalk there just to change up the scenery. Joey thinks we only ran 5 miles, but I didn't tell him we actually ran closer to  5.65 miles. Surprise Joey!! Mwahaha.

Look how cute our pottery turned out!! We painted each other mugs because we are both avid tea/coffee drinkers so I painted the mug with the shoes and tux for Joey and he painted me the smiley face mug "to put me in a good mood" since I'm not usually the happiest of campers in the AM.

Thursday Eats: 

Breakfast- I woke up early to go to the farmers market for a few things that they were out of last time. While there, I also ended up buying a few breakfast treats from a local bakery stand. One spelt cranberry muffin, one whole wheat blueberry scone, and two whole what, flax seed, chia seed, raisin "breakfast cookies". I had to have a thorough tasting of each for breakfast.

From bottom- Orange cardamom pistachio fig, apricot almond coconut, chocolate peanut butter,  and key lime pie! 

This is what I really went to the farmers market to get. These granola bars are made with all natural ingredients and come in the most unique flavors. I had a sample last time I went to the market and fell in love, but they were all out of the bars so I made sure to get there early enough today so I didn't miss them! I ended up buying 6 so that I could take some on vacation with me for my mom to try. They're right up her ally.

Lunch- Packed to go and eaten on the beach! 2 clementines, an apple, and trail mix (including cranberries, peanuts, almonds, etc).


Dinner- We were in Sea Isle visiting with Joey's family who were on vacation. They made an early dinner for us (around 5:30pm) and what a treat it was! Lots of seafood for this hungry girl...there was shrimp cocktail, crab claws, calamari, spicy shrimp, and crab balls and I had some of each...along with some corn on the cob! Later that night I also munched on some homemade trail mix (raisins, peanuts, chocolate chips) while watching the Gabby Douglas win the gold medal in women's all around gymnastics! GO AMERICA.

*I've been watching the Olympics almost every night and can't get enough! Hence the red and blue theme for this blog post. Those athletes are just so inspiring. I can't wait for next week's running events!!*


Thursday Workout: 
Morning session at the gym so we could spend the rest of the day relaxing on the beach.

Mixed Cardio Session: 
3.5 miles on the treadmill (about 27 minutes)
25 minutes on the elliptical (incline at 20, resistance rotating between 8,10, and 12 for two minutes each)
Almost an hour of cardio...I'll take it!

Then I tried to do the same strength part of last Friday's workout, but didn't quite have enough time. Here's what  I got through:

Legs and Butt: 
30 abductor (machine)
30 adductor (machine)
30/ leg lateral lifts
30 squats

Arms: 
30 bicep curl (20lb bar)
30 lat pull-downs (50 lb)
30 push-ups
30 girl push-ups

Abs: 
100 crunches
50 bicycles
50 leg lifts
20 V-ups
100 crunches
*at least I got through all of the abs!*

Today's Eats: 


Breakfast- On the way to the gym I had one of the chocolate peanut butter granola bars I bought yesterday.
Lunch- Light and Fit raspberry yogurt, apple, and some dried edamame while I sit here in Starbucks and work. Of course I will soon be getting a green tea latté. On second thought, I may get something with a little more caffeine.


Today's Workout:


I went to bed relatively early last night (early for me anyway) so that I could get up this morning and go to a Cardio Kickbox class. This 80 minute long class was great. It's split into two parts, so the first half of the class was more cardio oriented and there was a lot of "jabbing" and jumping. I was sweating the whole time and could tell my heart rate was really up there. The second half of the class was spent on more strength type exercises like lunges, squats, and arm exercises with hand weights. There was also abs and stretching thrown in there at the end. Overall, I thought it was a great workout with a little bit of everything...also a great way to change up my normal workout routine.

Switching gears a bit....

 I'd like to be a proud big sis for just a second and give a shout out to my younger brother, Evan. He's a junior in high school and was just named cross-country TEAM CAPTAIN (my high school's colors are also red and blue, so this is proving to be a very convenient choice of color theme). He is an amazing runner (much more talented than I ever will be) and has been working so hard this summer. He definitely deserved to be named a captain as a junior. Teheh I'm so proud.

Exhibit A- my brother is a much better runner than me. Please note the difference in stride length between he and I. Granted his picture was taken at the end of a race when he's kicking it to the end, and mine is somewhere in the middle, but still....I look like I might just pass out at any second.


Finally...


Tomorrow night I'm leaving to drive to Philly so I can catch an early flight Sunday morning to Savannah, GA where I'll be meeting my mom for our girls trip in honor of her birthday on August 8th! We're staying at a resort in Sea Island Georgia called the Cloister and have some really fun stuff planned. Massages, facials, running on the beach, cooking lessons, a sea kayak trip, a night time turtle walk, and of course good food should all provide for one great trip. Can't wait!!

Pretending to be sneaky spies while following Michael Phelps around Baltimore last summer ...I'm not kidding...we saw him at dinner one night in Fell's Point and actually followed him around after. Hopefully he didn't notice us :\ 

Happy almost birthday Mommy!! I love you!