I discovered a new restaurant in St. Pete today.

Thanks to this girl.

It saddens me to announce that my first official Tampa Bay friend is leaving me. She went and got herself re-knocked up, found a “dream job,” and is heading south at the end of this month. How rude. Totally selfish if you ask me. What about all your Tampa Bay friends, Callie?! What about us?!

I’m just kidding, of course. In all honesty, I’m really happy for my friend and wish her and her family nothing but luck and happiness. I’ve known for a while that these were her goals and it’s been fun to watch them become reality. I’m so proud of you, Callie!!!

I’m just lucky I was able to sneak Callie away for a celebratory lunch out. The girl has been closing up shop on one job, training for another, and trying to find a place to live come next week – she’s crazy busy! Fortunately, at the top of her to-do list is to indulge at some of her St. Pete favorite spots before she moves out of town. One of those favorites was O Bistro off of Central. It’s a favorite local spot that I’ve only recently heard of and had been meaning to try. Callie told me to trust her – this place was good.

She wasn’t kidding. Everything from the attentive service, to the smiling happy customers, to the delicious food was amazing. The menu was full of classic sandwiches and salads with a twist and all of the food that I passed on the way to the table at my stomach growling. Everything looked and sounded great.

Callie insisted that the eggplant fries were top notch and what this place was known for. She ordered a side for us to share.

Fried eggplant is hard to do right since the vegetable tends to soak up the oil, but these were perfect. The battered deep-fried eggplant was strangely light and not greasy at all. They were also addicting, it was hard to just stop at one.

I ordered the Artichoke and Palm salad, which looked deceivingly small and was surprisingly filling.

It was more toppings than mixed greens, which made for a heartier, filling salad. I loved the ultra-thin sliced red onion and the blue cheese. Those two totally made the salad.

We finished our meal with a shared piece of O Bistro’s famous carrot cake. According to Callie, this cake is legendary.

It’s really not hard to persuade me to split a slice of carrot cake – it’s easily one of my favorite desserts. This carrot cake was moist and spicy. I especially enjoyed the super think cream cheese frosting. It’s the kind of icing where all you need is just a tiny taste to satisfy that sugar craving. The slice was huge. Callie and I each ate a 1/3 of it and boxed the last 1/3 to take home. It’s currently sitting in my fridge waiting to be devoured tomorrow. It’s such a shame that Derek doesn’t like carrot cake.

I gave Callie exactly 1.1 million hugs before saying good-bye and heading back over the bridge to Tampa. The plan was to work at the Starbucks in South Tampa before heading to swim practice at 5:30. I arrived at Starbucks, ordered a misto, ran into an old friend (Hi Sarah!!!), and got a ton of work done. 5:00 rolls around and I decide to take the ipad and get a little reading done in the parking lot before practice. I get in my car and realize my lovely swim bag – which I was so proud of myself for packing before I left – isn’t there. I left it at home. Fail. No swim practice for me.

I tweeted my coach to let him know about my massive error, but it ended up not being a big deal as he promptly turned around and canceled practice due to weather (good thing, too, since it started storming right about the same time we would have been jumping in the water).

My new goal was to do the PM Tone it Up workout at home, but the rain made me lazy (and I had a thunder-scares-the-crap-out-of-me dog who refused to leave my lap). Instead Derek and I watched Ironman 2 (we felt inspired after watching The Avengers) and made soup.

Perfect answer to a rainy evening, wouldn’t you say?

The soup was randomly thrown together and included sweet potato, tempeh, navy beans, zucchini, mushrooms, stewed tomatoes, and vegetable broth. For a spur-of-the-moment soup, it was pretty tasty.

Soup needs carbs. My carb of choices was a leftover bagel from Sunday’s brunch.

Hit the spot. Totally hit the spot.

What’s your favorite rainy day meal?

Unfortunately, it looks like the rain took out cable box. Derek is on the phone with the cable company right now trying to sort it out. Cross your fingers!

Good night!

When I brought Maddie home from the farm in 2009 I was living alone in Orlando. Derek and I were dating at the time, but our relationship was still new and the idea of bringing a puppy home “together” wasn’t even something that crossed our minds. We were still two very independent people and Maddie was my little furball. I was “mom” and Derek was just “Derek” – a strange man who came to visit every once in a while.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this on here several times, but Maddie is not a fan of strangers, especially male strangers. It took her a while to warm up to Derek. He would only visit every other weekend and the inconsistency threw her little puppy brain off. When he did walk in the door, she would bark and back herself into a corner. It would take a few treats and belly rubs to prove to her that he was not a threat. We even made a rule that Derek was the one to feed her and walk her when ever he visited (knowing he was the one in charge of food, instantly had her warming up to him).

It took some time, and some consistent training, but Maddie ended up falling head over heels with Derek. Sometimes I think she even prefers him to me. Especially when they’re just chilling on the couch. He’s always the one to sneak her a treat when I’m not looking and he’s the one that doesn’t have a problem feeding her scraps right from his plate.

When Maddie and I moved in with Derek last year, there was some definite adjusting in the Maddie department. Maddie semi-rebelled in the move and forgot she was potty trained. Umm… yeah… talk about a way to test a relationship. She also learned to escape from her crate (we’ve since put a stop to thanks to a new lock) and her shedding problem seemed to take over the house.

Hello, Derek – welcome to the joys of dog ownership!

Even after moving in, Maddie was still “mine” (even more so when she was in trouble). Derek was still just “Derek” and I was fine with that. I had no problem taking on all the Maddie responsibilities as my own. I paid for all her vet visits, I paid for all her medicine, I paid for her daycare, and I took the lead when it came to walking her, cleaning up after her, and feeding her. She was my baby.

But, as time went on, I started to see a shift in fur-parenthood. This time it wasn’t Maddie warming up to Derek, but Derek warming up to Maddie. He’d come home from work, give me a kiss, and immediately head to Maddie to rub her belly. They even developed a little routine where Derek calls for Maddie to climb up on the couch before he leaves for work so he can give her a proper good-bye.

And he began to take on more responsibility with Maddie’s needs. Without even asking, he offered to pay half of Maddie’s last (very expensive) stay at doggie camp, he started regularly feeding her and refilling her water bowl when she needed it, and he took her out more and more.

Then, while I was out of town the other week, Derek sent me this photo

with the caption “Thank goodness daddy didn’t abandon me, too!”

It doesn’t sound like much, but I almost cried when I read it. Not because I was sad about leaving Maddie, but because it was the first time he referred to himself as “Daddy” in reference to Maddie. In the three years I’ve had Maddie, this was the first time Derek claimed himself as her fur-parent too.

Since that text message, I’ve heard Derek refer to himself as “Daddy” to Maddie – as in “Who gives you better belly rubs than Daddy?” more than a few times. It’s adorable and makes me smile every time. I’m not even sure if he realizes he does it now, but I’ve definitely taken notice. Like I said it’s the little things.

Maddie just isn’t mine anymore – she’s ours. I’m her fur-mom and Derek is her fur-dad.

Together we’re a family.

It’s Wednesday! Happy Hump Day!

I left the house for a run this morning not 100% sure how far I was going to to go. When it started drizzling about 2 miles from my place, I had my answer. I’m all for running in the rain when it’s a crucial run in my training plan (or I’m preparing for a big race where rain is a possibility), but when it’s just a casual weekday run, I’d rather not. I turned around and headed straight for home. Four miles was just fine with me.

I followed my run with the Tone it Up Beach Bum Workout (as included in the Tone It Up Bikini Series Plan) and a jar of Overnight Oats in Jar.

In the jar:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• last bit of almond butter
• Plain Chobani
• Almond Milk
• chia seeds
• cinnamon
• raisins
• walnuts

On top:

• Kashi Go Lean Crisp
• strawberries

Sad to see my jar of Trader Joe’s Almond Butter with Sea Salt go, but at least it went out in a bang. You can’ go wrong with overnight oats in a jar. Love that mix.

Now I’ll just have to wait for the next time I’m near a Trader Joe’s to buy one. Sniff.

Glee!

Loved last night’s episode(s). Especially this.

Downloading entire playlist…now.

We have new curtains!

Here’s a (dated) look at what we had before.

The dark curtains were great when we wanted to block the sun, but I never really fell in love with them. I’d recently started toying with the idea of buying new curtains when I saw these bad boys at Ikea and had to bring them home.

I think the lighter curtains really brighten the room up. Even Derek was a fan of the new curtains when I surprised him after work today. “Surprise, baby! I bought curtains!” I was afraid he would say they were too girly, but he told me they looked nice and he approved. Woo hoo!

Which is good because I’d just spent an hour cutting and hemming them, and I’m pretty sure Ikea wouldn’t take back semi-hemmed curtains. (would they?) Did you know Ikea curtains come pre-hemmed? A lovely fact I didn’t realize until I got home and saw how super long they were. Oops.

They also came with no-sew iron-on tape for an easy do-it-yourself hem. The tape admittedly intimidated me at first, but the directions made it look so easy, that I decided to give it a try.

I used the old curtain as my measuring guide and folded, ironed, and trimmed accordingly.

Maddie helped.

The no-sew hem was really easy to do, but my ironing skills apparently tanked (or maybe I didn’t cut enough of the excess hem away?). Either way, the hem fell apart about an hour after I hung the curtains up. #Fail I was planning on buying heavy duty doubled-sided tape, when Derek suggested Gorilla Glue to fix the hem problem. I haven’t had the energy to fight with it tonight, but we’ll see if the Gorilla Glue gets the job done tomorrow.

^see the busted hem?^

Either that or we’ll just have really long un-hemmed curtains. Eh. Whatever works.

Have you had any luck with the no-sew hem? What is the secret?

My curtain hemming/hanging fuel.

My dinner.

Derek came home from work as I was chopping up two chicken breast. He asked me what I was making and I told him I had no idea. “But you just cut up two chicken breast, how do you not know?” This happens to me a lot – I just start chopping and see what comes of it.

I checked the fridge for inspiration and found a bottle of Greek dressing to marinate the chicken in. The Greek dressing inspired a greek chicken theme which led to the other half of a sweet onion in the fridge, the olives in the pantry, the last tomato from the batch I bought last week, and the mushrooms I had almost forgot about in the drawer.

I chopped everything up, placed it in a frying pan, and let it cook down with a little oregano and thyme. The chicken could have used some feta, but besides that it was delicious.

I also had roasted cauliflower

and 1/2 of a sweet potato that I covered in leftover drippins’ from the chicken pan.

We ran a few errands after dinner (Derek is the proud new owner of a PS3 … I may never see my loving fiance again) and I had the last of my sister’s cookie cake with a scoop of ice cream afterwards.

We’d just spent over an hour at Best Buy and Wal-Mart, the ice cream was well deserved.

I’m planning on zoning out “Call of Duty” with a little light reading in bed.

Good Night!

Marathon season has officially come to an end for me(and, I must add, it did end with a bang ), so what’s next?

Triathlon season, of course!

I’ve been slowly easing myself back into the idea of training for another triathlon with the recent addition of bi-weekly swims to my weekly routine. It helps that I’m swimming with a group, if not – I might still be tip toeing around the idea of swimming, but not actually swimming. As I’ve mentioned before, triathlon training isn’t something that comes easy to me. I’m a runner who loves to run, but swimming and cycling? Not so much. I enjoy it once I’m out there doing it, but it’s not something I’ll jump out of bed for. Knowing I have a group of friends to keep me accountable, helps.

Now that I have a swim routine down (and a coach that keeps the workouts interesting!), it’s time to pull my bike out of hiding. It’s currently on the sidewall of my garage, buried under boxes with random bits of this-and-that occupying the surrounding space. I know I’ve mentioned this before (ok, several times), but my new goal this week (or next!) is to dust my bike off, fix the flat tires, and take it for a tune-up. This WILL get done. Promise. Pinky promise.

And it’s going to happen soon, because look who just registered for her first triathlon of the season.

Yep. The Crystal River Sprint Triathlon. I might be jumping the gun since it this race is at the end of the month, but it’s a sprint and I’m confident in my abilities to swim a 1/4 mile, bike 15 miles, and run 3 miles in the allotted time limit. It may not be fast – and it may not be pretty – but it’ll be fun to get back out there and remember why I enjoy doing triathlons. Think of it as my wake up call to get my booty into gear!

Plus, this race is extra special since the majority of my swim-mates are doing it too. I heard promises of floating down Rainbow River after the race – a promise I plan to hold them to!

Of course, I wouldn’t be ME if I didn’t have another crazy-challenge up my sleeve. I’ll blame this next one on my little brother. Can we say peer pressure? Because I totally succumb to it every time!

Last year, about this time, he had me registering for my first half ironman. And this year? TIme to start thinking about my second.

Yep – another 70.3. Game on.

This October my little brother, sister, and I will be heading to Miami for our second 70.3 distance – Ironman 70.3 Miami 2012. This race is going to be a tad different than Augusta – mainly the swim portions. It’s an ocean swim that will make a big loop in the bay. We were spoiled in Augusta with a gentle freshwater swim, where you could basically float and make it to the transition point on time. This part has me nervous, but I know with proper swim training at the local beaches, it’s doable.

As a bonus, I won’t have to worry about crazy hill training since there aren’t any. It’s going to be a very flat ride.

I’ll probably register for one or two more races between now and Miami, but this will be my main race I’m gunning for. Everything else will just be for practice.

So those are my goals this summer – dive back into triathlon training and keep my eye on the Ironman 70.3 Miami prize. After that? Who knows. One big dream at a time, please.

I guess it’s time I start working on a training plan then? Two-a-days, I did NOT miss you.

At least I have this video to keep me motivated.

If he can do it, so can I. (Just in a scaled back, not-as-insaned kinda way. )

What are your race goals this summer?

Today’s lunch was inspired by the ham and cheese waffle sandwich I’ve seen at Disney World.

Only with egg instead of ham.

I had two halves of a waffle leftover from Sunday’s brunch and instead of eating them the traditional way, I thought it would be fun to make a waffle sandwich with them.

I’ve made egg sandwiches with frozen eggos (or eggo knock-offs) before, but eggos have a different texture than homemade waffles. For starters, they’re crunchy and a little easier to handle when toasted. Homemade waffles are soft and very bready (even when toasted).

I lightly toasted the leftover waffles and stacked two scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, fresh sprouts, and a smear of pumpkin butter in the middle.

The sandwich was perfection. 100 times better than a plain eggo/egg sandwich and the perfect way to use up leftover waffles. Two thumbs WAY up.

With the sandwich I also had two little pickles.

And a bag of Sun Chips.

Now THAT was a good lunch.

Booty call time!

This morning’s Tone it Up “booty call” called for 40 minutes of running with our own interpretation of added resistant (hills, sprints, intervals, etc). My interpretation of that meant 40 minutes on the treadmill with intervals of 3 minutes @ 7.5 and 2 minutes @ 4.0 (such as the previous HIIT workouts they’ve done). I probably could have picked up the speed (even though I’m still trying to take it easy), but, really, I just wanted an excuse to read my book (50 Shades of Grey) on the treadmill.

The book is still keeping me interested, but I’m starting to pull away from the can’t-put-it-down phase. I mean, do they really need to include so many – umm – graphic scenes? At first it was something fun and different to read, but now I’m just starting to feel exhausted for the girl. Take a breather.

I moved from the treadmill to the weight section where I decided to try an arm routine I recently pinned called the Tank Top Arms Workout by Fit Fab Cities  .

The workout included a variety of push ups, tricep dips, shoulder presses, and more. Some moves required 10 lb dumbbells, while others required 15. I repeated it twice. It was a fast, fun workout that challenged my arms in a way that had them struggling in the last couple of moves – they were exhausted! She also has a Lean Legs Workout that I wouldn’t mind trying next time.

I enjoyed a bowl of cereal for breakfast after my workout.

In the mix:

1/2 cup Whole Wheat Chex

1/2 cup Kashi Cinnamon H2H

Plain Chobani

Strawberries

Walnuts

Who caught the series finale of Make It or Break It last night?!?! Ahhh!!!

Deep down I knew that’s how they were going to end the show, but it still made me cry like a little baby. I’ve watched that show from the very beginning and it’s strange to think back at all the ups and downs they’ve had on their journey. When Emily’s character left the show, I thought for sure it was all going to go down hill, but it didn’t. In fact, I thought this season was one of the best and they were just getting started with where they could take the story line. Now I’ll just have to cross my fingers and hope they make a TV movie.

I’m quickly discovering that Monday and Wednesday nights are going to be tricky in the dinner department. Those are my swim nights (AWESOME session tonight, by the way) and, since the pool is about 30 minutes from my house, I usually don’t get home until after 7:30. By then I’m exhausted and starving. Dinner has to be quick, easy, and go directly in my tummy.

I actually started planning tonight’s meal while doing laps (what? gotta occupy my mind somehow ). I had an eggplant in the fridge that i was planning to made eggplant parmesan with, but that sounded a little boring. What if I chopped the eggplant up with some of the zucchini I bought and make a eggplant/zucchini parmesan casserole? Yes, that could work.

Derek helped me start the meal as soon as I walked in the door, then I took a shower as it baked. It may have taken a little longer than I was hoping it would take, but the results were worth it.

Eggplant and Zucchini Parmesan Casserole

• 1 medium eggplant
• 1 large zucchini
• 2 eggs
• splash of milk
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs + 1 tablespoon
• oregano
• dried basil
• thyme
• salt
• pepper
• 1 can drained garbanzo beans
• 1 cup mozzarella (I used mini mozz balls, but shredded works too) + 1/4 cup
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan
• 1.5 cups marinara sauce

Preheat the oven to 375.

Start by cubing the eggplant and zucchini into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

In one medium bowl, whisk the two eggs together with the milk. In another, combine the flour, 1 cup bread crumbs, and seasonings. Dip the eggplant/zucchini in the egg, then coat with the flour mix and place in a greased casserole dish. Once the dish is full, bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

Remove the veggies from the oven and add the can of garbanzo beans, 1 cup mozzarella, and parmesan to the dish. Cover it all with the marinara sauce and give it a good mix to make sure everything is evenly coated with mariana.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, top with remaining cheese and bake for an additional 5.

Confession: I was too impatient/hungry to let it bake the entire 20 minutes. I pulled it out after 15 and served my plate before putting it back in for Derek’s. The eggplant and zucchini were just a tad undercooked at that point, but not bad at all. The great flavors more than made up for it.

I also had a 1/4 of a cheese bagel to slop up the good stuff.

Next time I’ll just have to make the meal when I’m not as impatient to serve my meal. Derek said his plate was great.

Before swimming I had a Kashi granola bar.

And, for dessert, a piece of my sister’s birthday cookie cake that she was kind enough to share with me this weekend. (My mom made her the cookie cake on Friday night and she brought a ziploc baggie of cake to Sunday brunch )

I <3 cookie cake!

The Make It Or Break It SERIES FINALE is tonight?!? I can’t believe the show is already coming to an end. *sniff *sniff It’s a great show – I’m going to miss it.

Good Night!

One to make you laugh

One to sooth you

And one to inspire you.

My family and I spent the greater part of Saturday night watching videos on YouTube (I told you we were cool) and I wanted to share. I need to watch that triathlete GoPro video anytime I’m feeling lazy or wanting to skip a workout… how bad ass is that guy? And the five-people-on-one-guitar deal is worth checking out. I almost like their version of the song better than the original.

I’m missing this really cool video that my brother showed me of a guy base jumping in a wingsuit, I’ll have to ask him for the link and eventually put it on here. It’s one of those videos that definitely make you go “whoa!”

Have you seen any YouTube videos worth sharing lately?

I had to make a quick trip to the grocery store before lunchtime this morning. Our fridge was bare and in need of replenishing. When I returned, I was hungry for lunch and quickly threw together a plate of this and that while putting the groceries away.

Some fresh veggies, hummus, and cheese

And the last of Friday night’s boiled yucca and baked plantains.

Alright, I have ONE more video…

The Glee Project is BACK on June 5th!!! Yippee!!

Psstt… I updated the Wedding Page. Thoughts on engagement parties?

I’ve only ever attended two engagement parties in my lifetime.

The first was for my cousin Angel. She was living in another state at the time and had only been dating her fiance a few months before he proposed. (FYI: they recently celebrated their 10 year wedding anniversary and have two of the cutest little girls on the planet). After the proposal, my aunt and uncle quickly threw together an engagement party for their next visit home simply so the rest of the family could meet the fiance and welcome him to the family. It was really a mix of a graduation party (Angel had just graduated from UAB) and an engagement party, but what it came down to was that we were all there to meet Jeremy and celebrate their recent engagement. I was only 16 at the time and remember being in awe of the whole engagement and wedding process.

The second was for a good friend of mine who was planning on having a long engagement so her future mother-in-law (who was apparently really into party planning) threw her and her fiance a gorgeous engagement party by the water. There was a good food, the obligatory through-the-years slideshow, and a dozen or so toasts wishing the happy couple luck on their future together. Unfortunately, the “long engagement” was put on an indefinite hold. The wedding never happened and the couple are no longer together. It was a lovely party though.

Because of my lack of experience with engagement parties, I never really considered even having one. Last weekend, the topic of engagement parties came up with my sister at lunch and we both weren’t even sure whether people still had them or not. My guess is, yes, they do, but probably when circumstances require one – such as giving the bride or groom a chance to meet the family, if there’s a long engagement, or the couple’s friends just want and excuse to throw a party!

Since the topic was still hot on my mind, I had to chuckle when I saw a post go up Thursday on Every Last Detail on the very subject.

Yep, people are still having engagement parties. There’s a proper etiquette behind it and everything.

Did you have an engagement party? Or are you planning one?

Good Morning!

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a splendid weekend! Mine was great:

• Friday night Derek and I saw The Avengers
• Saturday morning I learned to flip turn (sorta)
• Sunday morning we celebrated Mother’s Day with my family
• And Sunday night we celebrated Mother’s Day with Derek’s family

What did you do? Any Mother’s Day fun?

Thanks to an early bed time (I love making it to bed before 10), it wasn’t too difficult getting out of bed this morning. I got up, took Maddie out, and headed out for an 4 mile run around the block.

I forgot to mention it on the blog yesterday, but I met my friend Rachel at the large bridge in Titusville yesterday and we did an easy 5 miles that included one back and forth over the bridge. I’m technically still recovering from my marathon and her stomach was giving her issues, so we really just took our time and walked when we wanted to. It was pretty refreshing to take such a casual approach to the road. We spent the majority of the time discussing wedding stuff (she’s getting married in September) and just ran when it felt right.

My run this morning was more or less the same. I didn’t walk, but I didn’t push it either. My legs did what they wanted to do and I just enjoyed the ride. Now that marathon season is over, I’m going to slowly start transitioning over to triathlon training. I still have another week before I plan to start pushing myself fully in running or cycling, and for now i’m just going to trot along slow and steady.

After the run (which I’ll count as today’s Tone it Up “booty call”), I followed Monday’s workout for the Tone it Up Bikini Series plan and repeated the “Under the Sea” workout 3 times.

For breakfast, I dug into the bag of leftovers that my sister-in-law sent me home with yesterday and made a simple breakfast bagel and apple breakfast.

The bagel was a cinnamon sugar bagel from a great bagel spot in Titusville (Bagel World). It’s a popular spot that I haven’t been to in years, but having the bagels on the table yesterday morning reminded me that I have to take Derek there for lunch next time we’re in town. (I also owe him a trip to Louis’ BBQ for any curious locals).

With my 1/2 a bagel, I had an apple with a mix of honey peanut butter and almond butter.

Definitely hit the spot.

The day has officially begun and it’s time to get this work week started.

Have a great day, everyone!