Sunday, September 28, 2014

Weekly Recap- September 22-28, 2014

This week was another, wait for it...busy week.  Shocker, huh?  On Monday I met up with some friends at the Boardwalk hotel then had a softball game and dinner with the team.  On Tuesday, I had a Yelp event at Hawkers.  On Wednesday I had amazing free dinner at Eddie V's with a friend.  On Thursday I had a Fit2Run fun run.  I bailed on my Friday night plans so Kory and I could stay home and watch a movie.  Yesterday I had the 5k at Oakland Park and then dinner out with the girls.  Then today I had to work at Disney.  Whew!

Goofy training week 3:

Monday--softball.  We won this game.  I can in as a pinch runner in the second to last inning.  And then in the last inning I ran home from my own hit (from the batter after me) and then again as pinch runner.  So I got a lot of running in.

Tuesday--4 miles in 46:10 (Ran with the Ladies RUN Mornings! group.  Ran 22 mins then did 3:1s. Mile 1: 11:10, Mile 2: 11:10, Mile 3: 12:11, Mile 4: 11:41, Average Pace: 11:33)

Wednesday-- rest

Thursday-- 4 miles in 47:25 (Fit2Run Fun Run.  I ran the first 3 miles with Meghan then went back out for one on my own.  Mile 1: 11:56, Mile 2: 12:41, Mile 3: 12:30, Mile 4: 10:19, Average Pace: 11:51)

Friday--rest

Saturday-- 5k at Oakland Park in 28:55 (I'll have a full review up soon but lets just say I got a PR and hit a sub-29 which I never saw coming.  I was just hoping for a sub-30!  Mile 1: 9:00, Mile 2: 9:01, Mile 3: 9:53, Mile 3-3.11: 7:58, Average Pace: 9:15)

Sunday-- 5 miles in 53:11 (Mile 1: 10:10, Mile 2: 9:57, Mile 3: 11:04, Mile 4: 11:03, Mile 5: 10:55, Average Pace: 10:38)

Total miles this week: 16.11
Total miles in 2014: 211.38
Total miles: 1279.37

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Weekly Recap- September 15-21, 2014

Another busy week!  Softball on Monday, training run on Tuesday, Dance Trance on Wednesday and Miracle Miles 15k on Saturday!  I was supposed to do a training run on Thursday but I have a bruise down the inside of my shin bone that I have no idea where it came from and I'm hoping its not a running injury so I sat it out.

Goofy training week 2:

Monday--softball.  We lost in a close game in the last inning.  I batted pretty well.  I was afraid of hitting since I struck out 3 times the week before (NEVER done that!  I have no idea what my problem was!) But this time I hit pretty well and hit one to the outfield (just barely but I'll take it) so that was good.

Tuesday-- 3 miles in 34:57 (Mile 1: 11:03, Mile 2: 12:17, Mile 3: 11:40, Average Pace: 11:40)

Wednesday--Dance Trance class.  This was a class I'd been wanting to try for a while and I really enjoyed it!  I miss dancing days.  I can't commit to a monthly schedule so I was going to buy a 10 class pass for $100 but I found a Groupon for $20!  I'm looking forward to more dancing!

Thursday--skipped my training run due to bruise--hoping its not a running injury.

Friday--rest

Saturday--Miracle Miles 15k--9.44 miles in 1:39:05 (Mile 1: 9:46, Mile 2: 9:17, Mile 3: 10:25, Mile 4: 11:04, Mile 5: 11:04, Mile 6: 10:33, Mile 7: 10:55, Mile 8: 10:38, Mile 9: 10:59, Miles 9-9.44: 10:03, Average Pace: 10:36)

Sunday-rest

Total miles this week: 12.44
Total miles in 2014: 195.27
Total miles:1263.26

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Second Harvest Food Bank's Happy Hour

Last Wednesday, I went with Meghan and Karen to Second Harvest Food Bank's Happy Hour.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I was interested to see!

I got a little lost on the way (ahem scary part of town) but was only a little late.  I entered the beautiful lobby, got my wristband and free drink ticket.



We entered the warehouse and headed over to the area where the happy hour was set up.



First things first--the drinks.


I forget what mine was called (the one in a normal glass) but it was supposed to taste like a creamsicle.  It was a little too mediciney tasting for me.



Next up we checked out the food.



The peanut sauce was like melted peanut butter...soo good!

And you can't forget dessert!



Very tasty!

Meghan explained a lot about how the Second Harvest Food Banks works.  It really is such a neat facility.


Then we got to tour the Darden Kitchen.


It's huge!


We headed back out and went over and had a little too much fun at the photo booth (not sure that's possible!)




We also spotted Francis from Masterchef.


It was a fun evening for a great cause. Second Harvest Food Bank is such an amazing part of the community

"Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is a private, nonprofit organization that collects, stores and distributes donated food to more than 550 feeding partners in six Central Florida counties: Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia.

Collectively in fiscal year 2012/2013, Second Harvest distributed over 39 million pounds of food.Second Harvest Food Bank is Central Florida's hunger relief network.  

We multiply the power of giving and distribute up to $9 worth of groceries for every dollar donation. "

 I really hope to volunteer there soon!

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Weekly Recap- September 8-14, 2014

I had a busy week!  With the exception of Thursday night, I had something going on every day.  And do for most of September!

On Tuesday, I ran the Fit2Run Fun Run in Celebration with Meghan and Karen.  We followed up the run with dinner at the Celebration Town Tavern.  Even though I got poured on, it was so much fun!  We really need to do that more often!

Yesterday was the Hit and Run 5k.  I was worried that I wasn't going to like it but we got lucky with our wave and I loved it!  I'll have a review up soon!

But the scariest news--Goofy training started this week!  I still haven't decided which training plan I'm going to use--a slightly changed version of a Hal Hidgon plan or one on Runkeeper.  I do know that for now, I'm only going to do back-to-back runs every other week.  And if I'm hurting, I may drop down to only a few times.

Goofy Training Week 1

Tuesday--Fit2Run Fun Run: 3 miles in 31:05 (Mile 1: 10:05, Mile 2: 9:49, Mile 3: 11:11, Average Pace: 10:22)

Thursday-- 4 miles in 45:06 ( Mile 1: 10:06, Mile 2: 10:36, Mile 3: 12:26, Mile 4: 11:56, Average Pace: 11:16)

Saturday--Hit and Run 5k: 2.60 miles 39:45

Sunday-- 6.04 miles in 1:05:40 (Mile 1: 10:01, Mile 2: 11:19, Mile 3: 11:08, Mile 4: 10:36, Mile 5: 11:21, Mile 6: 10:56, Mile 6-6.04: 8:55, Average Pace:10:53)


Total miles this week:  15.64
Total miles in 2014: 182.83
Total miles: 1250.82

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Magical Dining Month- Hemingways

Some of the YelpSisterhood decided to visit several restaurants for Visit Orlando's Magical Dining Month.

The first of these restaurants was Hemingway's, which is located in the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.  Most of us had been there before for a Yelp event the previous year.  In fact, that was where we met Meghan for the first time!

The menu looked delicious, so we were all excited to dine there again.

First up, the matter of drinks!  I'd tried the Papa Doble during the Yelp event and loved it so much that I ordered it again.



(you knew I had one of these with Meghan & I!)

I briefly checked out the menu, but I already knew what I wanted.


Our bread selection (and I actually ate it!  The top was onion-y flavored I think!)

We started with the appetizer


Florida Rock Shrimp Chowder which is Zellwood sweet corn, diced potato, cracked black pepper, crispy potato.  MMM!  So good!  I only wish there had been more shrimp in it.

The main entree...


Hemingway's "Cayo Hueso" Crab Cakes--two of their famous recipe crab cakes, local sweet corn coconut grits, corn salsa & steamed asparagus.  The crab cakes are what I remember most from the Yelp event.  I couldn't get enough of them!  And tonight was no different!  The crab cakes were delicious!  I'm not a fan of coconut so I didn't particularly like (nor eat more than a few bites) of the grits.  I should have asked for mashed potatoes or something.  But those crab cakes.  I will get those EVERY.  SINGLE.  TIME!  (although a few of the girls got the shrimp scampi and the shrimp were HUGE!!!)

For dessert, I was one of the few who didn't order the Key Lime Pie (I don't like tart things).

Instead, I got the Peanut Butter Bombe.  It was a house made peanut butter mousse, cookie crust, chocolate ganache, with peanut butter coulis. It tasted like a giant Reeces Peanut Butter Cup.  I devoured it!  And proceeded to look around and see that all the other girls only ate half of their desserts and were taking it home.  #I'mAPig

Hemingways was such a great choice!  If you love seafood, I  definitely suggest it!


Monday, September 8, 2014

Weekly Recap- September 1-7, 2014

I celebrated my birthday on Monday with a great day!  But for some reason, I could NOT fall asleep that night.  So at 3am, I finally messaged my group that I'd be bailing at the 5am run.  I was actually still up at 4:30 and briefly considered running but I knew I'd be exhausted.

On Saturday, I ran a 10 miler.  And while I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to do another 16 miles (plus 13 the day before), surprisingly, my legs felt good afterward.  I have a couple of twinges and my muscles are a little tight but I'm going to keep foam rolling them & using the Trigger Point Therapy ball and hopefully they'll be okay!  I'm just so frustrated with my slow times.  At this point last year, I was running 10 milers at a 1 minute per mile faster!  I know everyone says it'll come back, but when???  It's been 2 months!

I also got new shoes this week.  Not one pair but two!  I couldn't decide between the 2.  Luckily, as part of the Fit2Run membership, you can bring shoes back within 30 days.  So the guy who helped me suggested trying both of them out.  I got the Ravenna 5s (Ravennas were the first pair I ever run in so maybe they'll be good for me again!  And while the store didn't have them, they have them in Orange & Blue.  So if they work for me, I'll be buying a pair of those online!)  And the Saucony Guide 7.  I'm wearing the Guide 6 right now and it hasn't been too bad to me.  The only problem is both shoes have a lower heel-toe drop (7.9 inches & 8 inches).  I like 10 which the Ravenna used to have.  I had Achilles problems with the Guide 6 before so we'll see if that comes back with these shoes.  Not sure what I'll do if it does!

Thursday- 4 miles in 46:02 (Mile 1: 11:02, Mile 2: 11:00, Mile 3: 12:19, Mile 4: 11:41, Average Pace: 11:30)

Saturday- 10 miles in (Mile 1: 10:28, Mile 2: 11:38, Mile 3: 11:24, Mile 4: 11:16, Mile 5: 11:20, Mile 6: 11:45, Mile 7: 11:27, Mile 8: 11:29, Mile 9: 11:42, Mile 10: 11:00, Average Pace: 11:21)

Total miles this week: 14
Total miles in 2014: 167.19
Total miles: 1235.18

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Birthday Dinner & Magical Dining Month- Deep Blu

Sooo..funny story.  My friends and I have made several reservations this month to check out a few Magical Dining menus.  I gave a list of ones I'd be interested and we decided on Deep Blu at the Wyndham Grand Hotel.  Fast forward a few weeks and it's my birthday.  I always make Kory surprise me with where we're going to dinner.  And where did he pick this time?  Deep Blu!  Does the boy know me or what??


When we sat down, the place was EMPTY!  There was a small section in the back where I saw two tables filled.  But in our main dining room, we were the only table until almost the end of our dinner!  It was really pretty inside and random, but we both kept commenting on how comfy the chairs were!



When the waitress put our menu down, I noticed a nice surprise at the top.


We decided to stick to the Magical Dining Month menu.


Although when I looked at the menu, I saw some oysters as appetizers. I asked our waitress, Shannon, if they could steam them and she said no. No biggie.  Since I'd be coming back later in the month, I'd just wait until then and have some raw ones as an appetizer.

We placed our drink orders.  I got the St. Augustine.  It was perfectly sweet.


The bread was okay.  It looked like it was garlic butter and there were cloves of garlic in the butter, but it wasn't strong enough.  I'm not a huge fan of bread unless it, or the butter is flavored, so I took a bite and passed.



About this time, Shannon came back and said that she had gone ahead and asked the Chef about steaming the oysters.  He said that since they were empty, he had time to go ahead and do that for me!  Talk about great customer service on both Shannon and the Chef's part!  Shannon could have just said no and left it at that!  But instead, she went out of her way since she knew I wanted them.  And then the Chef could have said no too!  So I was a very happy girl!

While I love oysters, I'm not knowledgeable about them.  There were four types offered and I just told Shannon to pick.  I don't remember which ones I got, but they were really good!  (and I was enthralled with the different colored salt!)



For the appetizer, I got the Butternut Squash Bisque which had Vanilla chantilly and crisp miniature greens .  It came in this fun, tall bowl (you can't tell in my awful-picture taking skills.)  The bisque was very flavorful.  And it was really thick--much thicker than other bisques I've had.


Kory got the My Yard Farms Kale Salad which had goat cheese, pears, strawberries, carrots, candied pecans, pork belly & warm grain mustard vinaigrette.  It was yummy too and I kept stealing his cheese pieces!


For the  main entree, I ordered the Blu Crab Risotto which was creamy risotto with lump blu crab, asparagus puree & topped with miniature local greens.  It was delicious!  The presentation was unusual, instead of being in a bowl or regular plate, and I enjoyed that!


Kory had the Seared Florida Red Snapper which was Florida gulf coast red snapper served with a whipped Yukon gold potato, tropical fruit relish of pineapple, honeydew, cantaloupe & cilantro.  I tried a bite but liked mine much more.  Kory disagreed and devoured his!


For dessert, we both ordered the Florida Citrus Creme Brulee but Shannon came back with a surprise--a fun birthday dessert!


There was banana cheesecake, espresso creme brulee and a deconstructed s'mores dessert with flourless chocolate cake, toasted marshmallows and graham cracker crumbs.  OH MY!  This dessert was so right up my alley!  I would have ordered each one separately if I had seen it on a menu.  If I see anything banana-y or creme brulee, that's what I make a beeline for.  And then I love inventive desserts which is what the s'mores dessert was.  My favorite was the s'mores dessert.  The chocolate was just decadent and the marshmallows complemented it so well.  The banana cheesecake was quite tasty too!  The espresso creme brulee was good but reaallllly heavy on the coffee taste.

I love Magical Dining month!  You get to venture out to restaurants and try foods you might normally get to try.  And honestly, before we ate, I wasn't sure if I was going to go back with my friends later in the month or skip it now that I had done it.  But after my meal there, I'll be going back!  There's other items on the menu that I can't wait to try!

Monday, September 1, 2014

It's My Birthday!

Today is my 34th birthday!  I was actually born on Labor Day and my mom loves to joke about how she was in labor on Labor Day!

The weekend festivities started off on Saturday with being able to take Bella into the Magic Kingdom for the Disney Parks Blog Disney Side Dog's Day at Magic Kingdom Park!  It was an incredible and fun experience!


Saturday night was supposed to be spent enjoying a Gator win but the game got delayed twice due to storms and then finally cancelled.  So sad!  I'm ready for the Gator football season to start!

On Sunday, I got up and got a run in.  Then on Sunday night I headed out for a girl's night of fun.  I met up with Meghan (Meghan on the Move), Cecille, Carla, and Cindy at Big River Grille & Brewing Works for dinner.


I had a yummy steak.



I also tried the pineapple mojito. It was good!!


Meghan and I had to get one of our traditional pics.

Speaking of those pics...Meghan made me a scrapbook of all of our pictures!  I loved it!


For dessert, Cecille brought cupcakes from Blue Bird Bake Shop.


I stole the chocolate one.



We took a group shot outside.

Then said goodbye to Carla and Cindy.


Meanwhile, Cecille, Meghan, and I headed to one of my most favoritest places!  JELLYROLLS!


I was so excited to be introducing them to this great place.  As I was there last night, I realized so much of my life has happened there.  That's where Kory and I met for the first time.  We've spent numerous nights there with friends and family, Kory's brother worked there, we spent New Year's Eve there one time, and my parents even threw me my 30th surprise birthday party there.

So I was glad that the girls were up for going.



And yup--we needed one of our pics.

We stayed until just after midnight--just long enough so that I could say I was there on my birthday!  Then we headed home.  It was a great way to kick off my birthday day!

This morning I slept in then Kory and I headed to Firehouse Subs for my birthday lunch.  I got my classic Hook & Ladder.  My fav!


Then we went over to Downtown Disney to see the movie If I Stay.  I'd been wanting to see it and it's not up Kory's alley but he decided to take me since it was my birthday and all.  It was so good but soooo sad!

We went back home for a little while and I opened some birthday presents.  I'd been needing a new Chi and my mom got me this pretty breast cancer awareness one.


 Kory got me these Gator Jello molds (yes, I asked for them!!)


A foam roller because my old one was starting to have a dent in the middle


And then a Gator tailgating chair


I cuddled with my furbaby for a little bit


And then we changed to head back out to dinner.  He surprised me with dinner at Deep Blu.  I've been wanting to eat there for a while so I was excited!


It was delicious!  I'll be posting a full review on it coming up this week!

Then we headed over to Hollywood Studios.  I'd been wanting to see the Frozen Fireworks so indulged me.

It was so hot!

Unfortunately, I did not pick a good spot to watch the fireworks.  Sigh.

But I still loved the show!










I had such a wonderful birthday!