knitting

The Friday 5 – 8th Edition

/ Amy / 4 Comments

I hope you’re having a lovely Friday! Here are five things:

1. This weekend is Memorial Day weekend I have a plan to count all the flags I see on my run on Monday. Then (if I remember) I’ll do the same on July 4th and report back as to which is the flaggiest holiday.  I’ve been thinking about doing this for some time now.  2014-04-18 17.24.51 2. I’m going to try trail running this weekend. Or if it’s too hard, maybe it’ll be mostly a walk. I’m nervous about tripping, and also about bugs, ticks, poison ivy, etc. Why am I do this again? Nature, ick!

3. My fitbit is coming tomorrow! Remember on Tuesday when I complained that fitbit was out of stock in my color and I had to wait. I guess they were wrong because the very next day it shipped! According to tracking on the USPS site, it should get here on Saturday. Hooray!

4. I’d like to knit a blanket for our bed. I have to find a pattern I REALLY like though, because it turns out I will need an extremely large amount of yarn to do this. And, yarn is NOT cheap. 

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It took months to knit this baby blanket – about 1/9 the size I’d need for my bed. It may take a decade to knit something for my bed.

5. Have you ever seen a Joggler? I learned to juggle a long time before I was a runner, and was intrigued by joggling (running while juggling) as soon as I heard what it was. It’s never something I’ve wanted to do myself (cue visions of dropping a ball and breaking an ankle as I trip on it), but just thinking about it makes me smile. I saw a joggler once in a 5k and I was ecstatic… a real life joggler! The record for women’s 5k joggling (3 balls) is held by Trish Evans – 21:46. This is 4 minutes faster than my current 5k PR sans juggling.   

I hope you enjoy your long weekend, and if you decide to run on Monday, let me know how many flags you see! 

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The Friday 5 – 4th Edition

/ Amy / 1 Comment

It’s Friday! Time for my favorite post of the week, where I write about five random topics. I try to include some running stuff, this being a running blog and all. 

1. I finished the blanket I was knitting! I gave it to my sister at her baby shower last weekend, so now I can post a picture of it. I hope my niece or nephew will like it. It’s a little on the small side, but so are babies, so I think it will be okay.

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2. Have you heard about this Run Run Run song by Michelle Lewis?   Lewis wrote the song shortly before the bombings at the Boston Marathon, for a friend. Since then, it has taken on kind of a new meaning. She and her husband created a video for the song (below) dedicating it to “all those training for Boston in Boston”. I like the song and I REALLY like the video. Part of my running route is in it! Towards the beginning, there is a woman wearing an apricot colored jacket (spoiler alert: it’s not me) running near the water.  That’s Beverly,MA! About a 1/2 mile from my house. 

You can read more about this from Runner’s World, and check out Michelle’s music on her website. All proceeds from the sale of the song from now until Marathon Monday will benefit the One Fund. I bought my copy from Amazon.

3. I cooked a delicious dinner!  If you know about my cooking skills, you know what a feat this is. I made citrus black bean soup and southwestern style twice baked potatoes. I think it looks like restaurant food. 

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4. Sometimes it takes me a REALLY long time to write a blog post – In fact, I rarely write them in one sitting. I don’t know why it’s so hard for me, I’m not terribly concerned that they be well written or cohesive masterpieces. I think I just have a hard time expressing myself in words. Blogging is a strange hobby for me then, isn’t it? Having a few weekly “themed” posts is very helpful. I’m doing much better documenting my runs now that I’m posting weekly recaps on Mondays. Along with the Friday 5, that ensures that I post at least twice a week. I think if I don’t post regularly, I would just stop posting all together. Which would be unfortunate because I think this is really fun. 

5. I order spices online. I love me some Penzeys. The first time I encountered them was at my mom’s house in Buffalo; they have a shop there on Elmwood.  There’s also a shop in my area (sort of) in Arlington, MA. It’s a little bit too far to travel for spices, so I order them instead. I time my orders so I can get free shipping, and every time I get a package they send a little free sample of a spice. Score! Plus, their catalog usually has a coupon for a free spice as well. They know how to keep me as a loyal customer, that’s for sure.

I hope you have a good weekend! Filled with good music, good food, and good running. 

#100HappyDays – Days 8 – 14

/ Amy / 5 Comments

It hasn’t been very long, but I’m enjoying the happy days challenge so far. I’m trying to remember my happy things throughout the day as a way to stay focused on all the good things in my life and smile more. I don’t know if that’s actually working, but it’s not hurting. So, with no further ado, here’s week two:

Day 8: Having a Muppet movie marathon. Okay, to be fair, we only watched two movies and that’s hardly a movie marathon.  We’ll watch another one or two soon, though.  The first movie we watched was the new Muppet movie: Muppets Most Wanted. It was very funny, and I liked it a lot. We saw it in the theater, so I also got to have movie popcorn for lunch. The second movie we watched was Muppets From Space. I think this one is from the late 90’s, and is centered on the origins of Gonzo. I liked Muppets Most Wanted better out of the two, but that could just be because it’s new.

Day 9: Easter candy from Winfrey’s. A few months ago, or maybe it’s a year now, a handmade candy store opened near our house. This weekend we stopped in to pick up a small treat while taking a walk, and that’s when we found something awesome. Candy eggs filled with fudge. So, obviously, we spent $10 on candy, which we ate over the course of two days.  Chocolate for the win! See, I told you the grilled cheese wouldn’t be the only happy thing based on food.

Day 10: Knitting for someone special. I’m knitting a blanket for my soon to be niece or nephew. It’s fun to knit and I like imagining a little baby wrapped up in the blanket in just a few months! I can’t wait to become an aunt for the second time. 🙂

Day 11: Stocking up on Chickpeas Yes, I’m aware that this sounds incredibly lame, but having a freezer full of beans is definitely a happy thought. We buy bags of dried beans, cook them, and then freeze them in 1-1/2 cup servings (equivalent to one can). We like to have a supply of chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans, and pintos.  In a typical week, we use anywhere from 4 to 8 “cans” of beans in chilli, hummus, tacos, and bean burgers. Eating all these things makes me happy, so having the ingredients is also a happy thing.

Day 12: Finishing a hard workout I didn’t feel like doing I’ve been having a serious motivation issue this week for reasons unknown, and had absolutely no desire to run intervals on the treadmill today. Luckily, I have an awesome husband who will encourage me to come with him to the gym even if I’m whining about it and dawdling and he’d probably prefer to just leave my annoying self at home. Once I started running, I was perfectly happy doing it, and I really love intervals. They make me feel fast and awesome.

Day 13: Watching Friends with Jeff Sitting on the couch with Jeff watching Friends (or something else we find funny) is definitely one of my happy places.

Day 14: Visiting with mom A trip to Buffalo is always full of a lot of family time, and I got it kicked off right by having lunch and running errands with Mom and Pam, then Beth came over to visit and eat pizza. What a great time!

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Goodbye Top 5 Friday, Hello Friday 5

/ Amy / 6 Comments

I think I mentioned last week that Top 5 Friday was probably going to be short lived because I have a difficult time coming up with items to put on these top 5 lists. Luckily, it’s not going away entirely, just getting a little makeover. I noticed that other bloggers do something called “Five for Friday”, or something of that nature, where they list 5 things on Friday. Just any 5 things. I’m not sure if there’s anything more to it than that, but I like that simple idea. So, Top 5 Friday is becoming The Friday 5, and there’s nothing you can do about it!

1. My second spin class was way more fun than the first. I adjusted my bike a lot better this time, and felt more comfortable with everything that was going on.  But even more than that, I liked the instructor a lot better. She picked great music, and I could actually hear her. I’m looking forward to next Monday’s class.

2. I started popping my Larabars in the microwave. I read this tip somewhere (another blog maybe?) a while ago, and I just tried it for the first time. It’s amazing! My favorite is the chocolate chip cherry torte. I’ve also tried it with the banana bread flavor, with some added mini chocolate chips. I’ve been eating these everyday for a year, but 15 seconds in the microwave makes it seem like a whole new snack.

3. I’ve been knitting up a storm. My sister’s having a baby in May! And, I’m making a blanket for little Baby C. I ordered the yarn online so I could get certain colors, but there was a big issue with shipping and I got it a month later than I expected. I’ve been knitting like crazy to catch up and finish in time for her shower. It’s coming along nicely, and I really like the pattern.  

4. I got a haircut! And I took this picture of it:

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I look weird in selfies.

5. My calf muscles are so tight. I should probably stretch. It’s one of my non-running resolutions to stretch. I’ve done it once. So far, not good. Starting today, more stretching!

That was so much more fun than trying to come up with a top 5 topic and scrounging for things to put on the list. I hope this change works for you, too. Happy Friday!