When Mommy to a lil lady {bug} announced her blogger ornament swap, I signed up to join in the fun. I love ornaments, especially cute ones like the one she sent me.
I Ho-Ho-Ho-hope she likes the one I sent her even if it was over a week late.
Since last week’s proclamation to run a half marathon at the Gasparilla Distance Classic, I’ve only fit in one run. Not a good way to kick off my half marathon training!
Saturday morning I woke up with such gusto and I simply had to keep that motivation going. But like every morning before a run, I checked the weather forecast and heavy fog was to be expected. A quick peek out the window confirmed that a thick fog blanketed my neighborhood.
Truthfully, I am a fair weather runner, but fog is fine except that it messes with my asthma and it freaks me out a bit because the boogieman and scary storm drain clowns lurk behind every corner. But during the holidays, fog is even freakier thanks to the creepy Christmas decorations.
At the start of my run, a mob of giant gingerbread people tried to grab me.
Then, a life-size scary snowman tried to beat me with his broom.
Thankfully, I managed to escape the clutches of all these creepy Christmas lawn decorations in the fog and finish a 3 mile at a decent time.
Distance 3.1
Time 39:09
Ave Pace 12:38
Max Pace 9:34
And for my minute half marathon training effort, I rewarded myself with a marathon of cookie baking the rest of the day.
***Proudly submitted at The Un Mom’s Random Tuesday Thoughts, because when I blog about my runs, it’s usually pretty random.***
Being married to a Scotsman, I have been educated in the UK Christmas tradition of pop stars creating THE number one hit at Christmas. Across the pond, pop stars fight over the coveted number one spot at Christmas. The movie, Love Actually, pokes humor at this silly UK Christmas custom.
Here in the States, a new Christmas single may hit the airwaves every once in a while but for the most part, artists simply put a new spin on old classics.
Well, it must be a blue moon Christmas because Train has released a new Christmas single this season, Shake Up Christmas.
The song fits my criteria for being the perfect Christmas jingle with its merry and jolly sound. Apparently, the marketing department at Coca Cola shares the same opinion of Train’s new Christmas single as it has been featured in their Santa commercials this season.
So what Christmas songs are shaking things up for you this season?
Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore.
When my eye hits a pizza pie, THAT’S amore! The sauce. The gooey cheese. The crispy crust. Crushed red pepper flakes for some heat to finish my slice off.
When I first met my husband, he thought pizza was pizza. Oh no, no, no!
In the States, you’ve got your deep dish Chicago style pizza lovers and you’ve got your hand tossed New York style pizza lovers. I fit in the latter category, however, growing up in Florida made it difficult to find that authentic New York City taste and only a handful of pizza joints had passed my family’s taste test. Thankfully, our neighborhood pizza joint has passed the test and I’m forcing my children to love building another generation of New York style pizza lovers.
Sometimes I feel like a pizza with the works (sausage, pepperoni, onions, bell peppers, olives and mushrooms).
And sometimes I’m in a just cheese kind of mood.
Deep dish, hand tossed, the works or just cheese- any way you slice it, Karen ain’t eating anything as tasty as this across the pond.
Link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.
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“Well, ya comin’?”
Where?
“To the North Pole, of course! This is the Polar Express!”
Upon entering Sea World’s Christmas Celebration, it did indeed feel as though we stepped into magical winter wonderland. On a cool crisp Florida evening, dazzling lights and snowflakes cascaded around my family in The Christmas Market. My girls (Allana and Emmalynn) and their cousin (Meghan) happily danced in the drifts of snow bubbles. Grandma and Liam giggled and played in the snow too.
Then, the animal ambassadors told us that the sea lions, Clyde and Seamore, desperately wanted Santa to stop at Sea World this year, so we scurried on our way to Clyde and Seamore’s Countdown to Christmas to offer some Christmas cheer. With the help of their trainers, an elf, an otter and a walrus, they managed to make everything merry in time for Christmas.
We couldn’t leave the park without riding the Polar Express and visiting Santa, so next we hopped on The Polar Express Experience located in the Wild Artic. The train ride was a bit intense for our girls, but we arrived in one piece and with our dinner still down.
We knew we had finally reached our frigid destination from the icy cold habitat we encountered once we exited the train. A beluga whale greeted us and guided us on the way to Santa. The elves and Santa were very excited to see us. Santa thanked the girls for traveling so far to see him and for staying on the nice list this year. Although they were star struck by jolly ol’ St. Nick, they remembered to share their Christmas wish lists with him.
As we made our journey back home, we ended the evening with a big bang and a breathtaking view of Sea World’s Festive Fireworks and Dazzling Lights choreographed to joyous holiday music. And as the Sea of Trees shined over the center lake, their reflection glistened twice as many trees over the water.
Many other Orlando amusements parks charge an additional fee to participate in such extravagant holiday festivities, but all this magic and wonder is included with a Sea World admission every weekend night in December until the first weekend in January.
Once my girls heard that, they begged to go back this weekend with the whole gang again, of course.
For more information about SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration or to purchase an annual pass, visit SeaWorldOrlando.com.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev’rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.
I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month. – Harlan Miller
With my sedentary fat ass sitting on the floor, I feverishly searched through magazines for my favorite Christmas cookie recipes. As I combed through dozens of dusty magazines, I stumbled upon an old Runner’s World magazine (August 2009). It boasted:
Your Perfect Plan
- Finish Your First 13.1 Miler
- Train Less, Have More Fun
A few days ago, my running friends and I were discussing Gasparilla Distance Classic and which distance we would choose to run. Chrissy said she’d like run better 5k and go for a new PB. Kelly and Faith contemplated registering for their first 5K. Julie mentioned she would like to go for her first half marathon. But after finishing her first half a few weeks ago and not really enjoy it, Jackie thought she might shoot for a shorter distance this time, like a 15K.
But which distance would I choose? The 5K? A 10K? Do I attempt the 15K or even a half marathon?
No matter the distance, it would mean one thing: I would have to get my pop-n-fresh doughy fat ass off the floor and really start training again.
These days I have been training less, almost non-existent from nearly a year ago when I trained for my fourth half marathon. I really miss those running days and my ultimate me time.*sigh*
But I interpreted finding that old Runner’s World as a sign. I should choose the half marathon. With GDC, less than 11 weeks away, this RW ten week plan was PERFECT, especially with the holidays right in the middle of my training and it also leaves room for injury and recovery time. Plus, I particularly like the “conversational” miles each week. As all my running partners know, I can rack up some serious “conversation” miles.
Attempting such a bold move five months postpartum would be like starting all over as a beginner runner, which is another reason why this RW plan is so perfect for me. It works on an “easy” pace and time, not speed.
So that’s it. I’ve made my mind up. I am going for the half-marathon. I’m not going to PR, just make it through the miles.
Let me just finish my cookies first. Nom nom nom nom
Proudly submitted at
Although I’ve bragged about them and even shared a picture of my perfect Snickerdoodles, I never actually posted a recipe. But I when I sniffed out If I Could Escape’s Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange, I thought now was the perfect time to post my perfect and very impressive Snickerdoodle cookie recipe. See, my Snickerdoodles are so impressive because I can’t bake and yet somehow, I make the best damn Snickerdoodles on the planet. Honest! I even have a certificate to prove it.
So, here it is. Run DMT’s Spectacular Snickerdoodles that even her Iron Chef Husband can’t replicate
(Modified recipe from Joy of Cooking)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line 2 cookie sheets.
Whisk until well blended:
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
Beat in an electric mixer:
1 stick unsalted COLD butter cut into small cubes
1 ½ cups sugar
Add and beat until well combined:
2 large eggs
Gradually add in the flour mixture.
Mix on a separate dish:
¼ cup sugar
4 tsp ground cinnamon
Shape the dough into 1 ¼ inch balls, roll in the cinnamon sugar and arrange about 2 ¾ inches apart on the cookie sheets. Bake, one sheet at a time, until the cookies are light golden brown at the edges, about 12-14 minutes. Let stand briefly; then remove to cooling rack.
Yields approximately 36 three inch cookies.
My Secret Santa gave me a great Christmas gift and now my days are full of Fa La La La Las.
These are the best videos I could find for my favorite picks off the album. They sound a bit Auto-tuned. The CD sounds much better. Honest! But, whoever created these videos added a cool click feature, so you can listen to all the songs just by clicking on the red title bar in the center.
I can’t wait to see and hear the songs performed on tomorrow night’s show. I know. I know. I am such a Gleek.
For the next two Mondays leading up to Christmas, I will be sharing my favorite holiday tunes. It would make me very jolly if you shared your favorite holiday tunes, too.
Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.
Leslie of The Hungry Housewife has told me repeatedly how easy it is to make peppermint bark. This year, I decided to give it a shot after refusing to take out a loan to purchase Williams-Sonoma’s lovely stash or waiting for it to be marked down. After all, I need to brag about eating peppermint bark to Karen for our Friday Food Fight and I can’t wait for it to go on clearance to do it.
So, I decided to follow Leslie’s advice and her recipe and I made my own batch of peppermint bark. It really was so easy and soooooooo good. It even passed Iron Chef Allan’s taste test.
Look! I even put it in a fancy tin!
I’m taking orders, if you’d like some. It will cost you $26.50, plus $4.95 shipping and handling.
Link up and see what Karen and Kirsten are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.
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