Hurricane Sandy is Coming!!

Morning bloggies! Well I guess it's afternoon by now... I just woke up about an hour ago (don't remember the last time I got to sleep in so late). If you're wondering why I got to sleep in on a Monday morning, the answer can be found on your local news channel...Hurricane Sandy is headed for Baltimore at this very minute! Yes it's true. Sadly the eye of a categorie one hurricane is headed straight for the city I currently reside in and is going to mix with cold nor-eastern  winds to create one hell of a storm. The news here is saying that this is the biggest storm Baltimore has ever had to fear. And I'm living it...great.

The good part about all of this is that school was canceled for today and most likely tomorrow too! Yay! No chemistry exam for me today :) We are already starting to feel the effects of the approaching storm (heavy rain and the wind is beginning to pick up) so I'm guessing that I will be spending the whole day in doors catching up on school work and possibly watching a few movies. Oh how I love lazy rainy days.

Here is a look back at the few pictures of food that I took this week!

For lunch a few days this week I've been nomming on this creation-mixed greens with chickpeas, red peppers, celery, and carrots. Oil and vinegar dressing.  

This looks strange I know, but a few days this week I grew tired of the morning protein smoothies so I changed it up and had a bowl of plain nonfat greek yogurt with Bob's Red Mill Muesli, berries, and agave nectar drizzled on top! 

Thursday morning I got together with some Sirens to make cupcakes for our bake sale! Red velvet with vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles of course! 

Sirens definitely know how to throw a good bake sale...we had so many home baked goods! 

We had a Sirens benefit concert this weekend for a local charity that brings science and math courses and materials to innercity Baltimore schools. Therefore our concert was appropriately named "Sing for Science". What better way to decorate for the concert than with a giant drawing of Jimmy Neutron and his beloved dog Goddard (also note that there is a full chalk board devoted to Pi) 

Halloweekend! Lara and I dressed up as elves! 

And our fellow Siren Katie was Santa! Too perfect. 

Favorite foods this week: 

• apples with almond butter
• Nature Valley almond and dried fruit mix 
• chickpeas 
• soy chai tea lattés 
• celery/carrots with hummus 

Workouts this week: 

• shorter treadmill runs with sprint intervals or inclines (hill work makes for toned legs!)
• uphill walking lunges on the treadmill with incline 
• resistance band arm work 
• girl pushups 

That's just a look at how I've been eating/sweating this week! Feel free to comment on the blog with any questions, comments, or suggestions! I really love hearing from y'all! 

I'll leave you with this awesome video that I found through a fellow blogger's page. It makes me want to get back into yoga so badly. Maybe one day I'll be able to do this too! 

Enjoy! 

Parents Weekend Fun

I'm writing this post while sitting with Joey's two roommates (boys obvi) blasting Taylor Swifts new album throughout their apartment. Call me super lame, but I love her music. It's just so catchy! I would be lying if I said my last few runs weren't accompanied by jamming out to her new CD. If you like really girly songs about boys, dating, being young, general cheesy topics, etc, then this album is totes for you. Check it out!!

In other news, this past weekend was parents weekend! Yay!! My mom, dad, and our good family friends came to visit me at school and we had a great weekend. Here are the highlights in photo form.

After my parents arrived on Friday I gave them a quick tour of my dorm/ room and then took them to Carma's for lunch (the people that work there definitely know me by name now since I'm there so often). We went back to their hotel after and I had time to take a MUCH needed nap. Unfortunately I was wearing a dress and didn't have comfy clothes to change into so I borrowed my dads.... I know...I look good...

Friday we had a great dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Baltimore called Talara. They have mostly spanish inspired dishes but are known for their excellent ceviche! We ordered multiple rounds of it and I savored every bite. I was so full by the time we were ordering our main course that I just opted for a spinach salad with grilled salmon. 

Saturday was a busy day spent touring apartment buildings for next year, singing with the Sirens, and doing some shopping! By the time Maddi (friend who came to visit) and I got back to my room to change for dinner, we were pooped. But we rallied and were back out the door in 45 minutes! 

It was off to a friend's restaurant for dinner! The Row House Grille had such great food. My mom and I split two salads. One was full of hearty beans, and the other had spinach, pears, cranberries, and pistachios! We ordered a couple of desserts for the table and even though I was stuffed, I managed to have more than a few bites of the bread pudding-it tasted like Christmas!

Mama Shelley went out with my friends and I after dinner! 

Maddi is on the left, Carly on the right!

Maddi and mama Shelley :)

After a busy but fun parents weekend, it was back to reality come Sunday when I had to study for the three exams I had today :( So life goes at Hopkins ugh. But now I'm all done! Yay! Oh wait, I have an exam Friday and one next Monday....when does it end?! 

With that being said, it's been another period of inconsistant gym time. I haven't taken a day off or anything, but fitting time to get my sweat on has been tough. I pretty much just get it in whenever I can and stay for as long as I can. Mostly I've been running medium distances (4-6 miles) every day plus elliptical or bike. Also, I've been really trying to incorporate at least a little strength training every day-alternating between focusing on arms vs. legs. Abs every day too! Can't forget dem abs! 

And then it's back to the library. At least I have the Sirens to keep me company :) It's so great to know that almost any time I'm in the library, there is at least one other Siren in there to sit with/ entertain me. 

Besties :) 

That's all for now! I need to refill my cup of tea and then head off to bed. I'll leave you with this adorable picture of Mo. I can't help it...I'm like a proud mama.

silly kitten 

Green Protein Smoothies and Vegan Brownies!

Here is a look at my busy week. I have to hurry to class in ten minutes so please excuse the plethora of pictures and lack of words. Enjoy! 

My mom sent me these powders in a care package! They go in my smoothie every morning :)

1 banana, peanut butter flower, Vega One protein powder, Field of Greens powder, ice, and almond milk. Perfect on the go breakfast that easily keeps me full until lunch.

Orange juice, green tea, green protein smoothie --> the breakfast trifecta. 

That little guy on the left is a vegan brownie that my mom made and sent in the care package. They're made with black beans, cocoa powder, agave nectar and dates! It sounds kind of strange and I was definitely skeptical of them at first, but let me tell you, there are ADDICTING. But they're healthy, so you don't even have to feel guilty! Recipe to come!

Salads from one of our food courts!

Dinner with my roomie from last year at One World- a restaurant that specializes in vegan and vegetarian cuisine. It's amazing. 

Salad with grilled tuna!

Mmmm...gotta love a good chai tea latte

More dinners with my great friends Carly and Carolyn! We grabbed dinner the other night at Carma's to catch up! They have amazing soups and sandwiches....and chai's! (see above picture)

Workouts this week have been pretty boring. I'm just trying to take it easy after that half marathon last weekend. However, the other day I did manage to kick out a quick 5 miles at an 8 minute pace and it felt great to get my sprinting intervals back in to my workouts! More details to come!

Alright I'm off to class! Have a great weekend! 

Half Marathon Race Recap!

I finally completed my first half marathon! YAyyy!! This has been a long term goal of mine so I'm extremely pleased that I can finally check it off of my list of things to make happen. All in all, it was such a great experience, so here's a look back at the pre/during/and post race festivities!

So Friday night my good friend Katie (who was also running the half) cooked an amazing meal for carbo-load dinner and invited all of her friends running in the race. Needless to say, I was a happy girl with my plate of whole wheat pasta with homemade vegetarian tomato sauce :)

What a spread!

 After heading to bed at a semi-early hour of 11 pm, I got a good 8 hours of sleep before my alarm went off promptly at 7am. I wanted to have plenty of time to get ready and eat breakfast before we left for the race at 8. For breakfast- a whole wheat sandwich thin with Crofter's raspberry jam and a banana.

Into my race gear bright and early!

Our race wasn't starting until 9:45 (which is pretty late for races), but we still had to get there plenty early because of how big the race is...we didn't want to get stuck in traffic! I heard on the news that there were 27,000 people running in the Baltimore Running Festival total (including the 5k, half marathon, full marathon, and a kids fun run), and about 15,000 of those people were running the half!

Because we got there so early, we had time for a little pre-race photo shoot. 

Here's the best "before" shot! 

And then before we knew it, it was time to head to the starting line! After the gun went off, we didn't reach the starting line until about 5 minutes later because of all the people!

Photos courtesy of my friend Taylor's lovely parents :)

Waiting for the race to start!

When the race really got going I was feeling pretty good. I had a huge rush of adrenaline and I think that caused me to go out a little too fast for the first few miles. Then we hit a number of hills that really killed my legs right off the bat. After I recovered from those not so fun hills, I decided to back off for a while and slow the pace in order to save my energy for later in the race. For miles 4-8 I just listened to my body and didn't push it. At mile 6.5 we got to run around this beautiful lake in north Baltimore. The scenery was so distracting and before I knew it we were at mile 8! Mile 8 covered the last of the hills and by mile 9 I was passing by Hopkins' campus and got to see some of the Sirens cheering me on! Seeing some familiar faces gave me a great boost of confidence and energy that lasted until the end of the race. Luckily miles 10-13 were pretty much all down hill. My legs very much appreciated that. I cruised into the finish line with a time of about 2 hours and 4 minutes. For a first time race, it's not a bad time at all, but I think that next time I will definitely try to push it more. I was too afraid of burning out early, but next time I'll know that I can keep up a faster pace. 

All in all, my body felt pretty good throughout the race. The only thing that started to bother me was my left hip about half way through. I've never experienced hip pain before so I was surprised that of all the pain my body was subject to, my hip was where it resonated. I ran through it though, and it didn't prove to be detrimental to my race at all. 

Joey took this picture at mile 12.5...almost done!!

The "after" pictures :)

 Then it was time to head to a much deserved brunch with my fellow race finishers and our supporters! Thanks Joey and Alex! :)

This heavenly treat is known as the Funky Monkey bread and you can find it at Ms. Shirley's--a famous Baltimore restaurant most well known for the best diabetes-inducing delicious food in the city. I didn't care though, I ate almost half of that thing and THEN had oatmeal and a few bites of pancake (along with lots and lots of water!). 

Then it was time to SLEEP! I went home, showered, and was out cold for a solid 2.5 hours. When I woke up, I had a headache, and my knees and hip were on fire. I felt like a grand-ma limping around my apartment. After I guzzled some water my headache subsided (meaning that I was most likely just dehydrated), but my knees and hips are still hurting today. I guess they just aren't used to that much pressure on them! Oh well, they'll feel better in a few days I'm sure. 

The rest of the night was spent having a great big dinner and then falling asleep on the couch at 11 pm while watching a movie. I let myself sleep in until 10 am this morning so I got a great 11 hours of sleep! I feel sooo well rested today. Now I'm off to get some work done in the library! I'll have another update for you guys later in the week! 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! :) 

A Week in One Post

Happy Monday!

My life follows a pattern. For a couple of weeks things always get crazy busy and stressful with school, and then seem to die down for a week or two before climbing right back up to an almost unmanageable level again. But so life goes at Hopkins (and I'm sure most other universities). This semester my class schedule is especially tough so trying to balance it with extra-curricular activities is proving to a lot more difficult than I anticipated. Making things even more difficult is my inability to say no to people. I love feeling really involved on campus, helping people out, and doing fun things with my friends, but sometimes, if for nothing but my own sanity, I need to just say no and instead chose to do things that are better for me in the long run (ie-planning time for chemistry tutoring!).
I'm sure everyone in college and beyond understands that finding that balance between all of the things we want to do is a constant struggle, but spreading yourself too thin can often have a negative impact on activities or people that are important to you. That's something that I have to constantly remind myself of.

Okay, enough about my life struggles. On to food and workout updates!

Banana cinnamon oatmeal with soy milk and a little maple almond butter mixed in. Perfect fall breakfast!

I made a big trip to Whole Foods last week to get some food staples for the month. Food shopping is such a nice relaxing break from school. I would do it every day if I had the time/money!

So many pumpkins! Welcome Fall!!

Some of the purchases included, mushrooms, apples, raspberries, goji berries, corn cakes, air popped popcorn (whole foods brand is the best!), Fiber O's (also whole foods brand), quinoa, peanut butter powder (sounds weird I know but it's actually really good and super easy), kombucha, carrots, broccoli, soup, dried cranberry+almond trail mix, and a few other things!

Dinner the other night was some steamed broccoli and soup! Along with an apple and more than a few handfuls of cranberry almond trail mix!

I found some tofu in our fridge that needed to be cooked up so I threw it in a pan with some olive oil, salt, and pepper and cooked it until golden brown!

Then I got crazy and made quinoa and cooked carrots

Then I washed some arugula and added it all together!

Mmmm...hearty and delicious 

Friday night in dinner- sautéd mushrooms and spinach with egg whites and tomato soup on the side! I also cut up an apple and pear AND broke out the air popped popcorn :)

Big fruit salad accompanied a protein smoothie for breakfast Saturday morning!

Birthday dinner at P.F. Changs on Saturday night! I had edamame to start (I can't resist) and then steamed salmon with veggies. The salmon wasn't terribly flavorful, but it was still pretty good.

Happy birthday Katharine!

More fall inspired noms...Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latté!- I got a "skinny" version made with skim milk, sugar free syrup, and no whip cream. Still delicious but wayyyyy less unnecessary sugar and calories.

If you want sugar and calories...go with one of these delicious but dangerous options. 

Workouts were a little bit more varied last week. Aside from a couple of necessary long runs, I also did some shorter runs coupled with mixed cardio (elliptical, bike, etc) just to give my muscles a little break from running. I also did a little bit of strength training last week that included a lot of pushups, crunches, squats, and lunges--and I was definitely feeling it the next day.

Since the half-marathon is this Saturday and I don't want my muscles to be too tired for the race, this week will only include one long run (a ten miler doozy), two or three medium runs (5-6.5 miles), and the other 4 days will probably be more focused on nice and easy cardio coupled with a little strength training.

That's all I have! Look forward to some guest posts coming up as well! See ya guys!