Who knew that the Space Coast Marathon and I both turned 40 this year?! I sure didn’t realize that when I thought about running the race. But now that I know, it just makes the marathon that more meaningful for me, especially since I get this fancy bling bragging about my accomplishment at 40.
*Image borrowed from the Space Coast Marathon Facebook page.*
The Space Coast Marathon and I…looking good at 40!
By the way…if you want to track my progress through out the race, my bib number is 34.
My first born child turned TEN today.
A whole decade!
When did that happen?
How did that happen?
Ten years ago, I cried happy tears when I held her in my arms for the first time.
Today I cried happy tears all over again, just thinking about ten years with our Allana Rose.
And I want to hold my baby tight again and never let go.
Happy 10th Birthday to our little Soul Sister, Allana Rose!
xox
Despite our beach trip getting rained out and not finding a room at the Don Cesar (the pink castle), I still had a FABULOUS birthday week. Thank you for all the lovely, sweet birthday wishes!
This Saturday, Allan and I are throwing birthday party in my honor and I cannot wait! I’m looking forward to letting my hair down, laughing over drinks, dancing and acting silly with my friends. I feel like I haven’t seen my friends in ages!
For the party, I will be wearing a sexy little number I picked up at White House Black Market a few weeks ago. I don’t mean to brag…well, all right maybe I do mean to brag…but this dress looks seriously smoking on me. You know you’re looking fine when the sales associate says, “Girl, that’s HOT!” Sold!
With all the hours spent running my ass off and this little black dress, I’m bringing sexy back just in time for my birthday party.
Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.
I’ve expressed my love for all things Italian on this blog many times before so it should come as no surprise that hubby took me for an Italian meal for my birthday.
At Bella’s Italian Café, we enjoyed a delicious three course meal starting with Bella’s Famous Chopped Salad, a finely chopped chicken breast, crumbled bacon, diced tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, red cabbage, gorgonzola, ditalini pasta and romaine all tossed in a dijon vinaigrette.
Although we should have split our entree, we each ordered the Salciccia Al Forno , Italian sausage tossed with penne pasta, mushrooms and ricotta in a creamy tomato sauce, then topped with mozzarella and baked.
Of course, we made sure to leave room for dessert and selected Tiramisu (a classic Italian dessert with layers of lady fingers, zabaglione – Marsala flavored custard, espresso whipped cream and mascarpone topped with whipped cream and warmed chocolate sauce) to top it off. Much like restaurant’s name, our meal was simply beautiful.
Whereas others would be tired of eating Italian food, this past week we’ve been piling on the cheesy pasta dishes. Per my request, Iron Chef Allan concocted a baked penne casserole and it was better than I hoped for! This stringy cheesy layered mess really satisfied my craving.
Iron Chef Allan’s Baked Penne
Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cartons of Pomi chopped tomatoes
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup fresh basil , finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1 lb pasta
1 lb shredded part skim mozzarella
3 cups whole milk ricotta
1/4 cup grated parmesean
1 egg
Directions
Prepare penne according to al dente directions on box.
In a saucepan, soften onions in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add garlic to onions and cook for about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, 1 Tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, red pepper flakes, basil and oregano. Simmer for about ten minutes or until warmed through.
In a large bowl, mix ricotta, mozzarella, egg, parmesean, 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper with half the tomato sauce. Pour mixture into a 9 x 11 baking pan. Top with remaining sauce, mozzerella and parmesean cheese. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown at 350 degrees.
Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.
*Also submitted at*
Birthday jazz hands!
Put your paws up for the Birthday Princess!
Groovy guns.
This MILF is now a FILF.
Life still feels fun at forty.
Forty feels good.
For this week’s RTT, I wanted to do a vlog. Why not? I don’t believe there are any rules about that. Besides, it’s my birthday tomorrow and I am turning 40, therefore I get to make the rules. So, I decided to make a vlog and poke a little fun at myself. All while wearing a pink tiara, of course. If you’re wondering about the whole “KICK…STRETCH…KICK” bit, it’s a reference to a SNL sketch starring Molly Shannon as Sally O’Malley.
And to keep in the true spirit of a RunDMT RTT post, I’m sharing my latest running stats. God Lord. It’s been so ridiculously hot out lately. I’ve even tried starting at 5:00 a.m. to beat the heat, but there’s no escaping it. Running in July is just not fun. Hopefully, my pace will improve once the weather cools.
July 22
6.10 miles
1:10:47
Ave Pace 11:37
Max Pace 8:14
July 23
3.10 miles
Time 32:17
Ave Pace 10:26
Max Pace 8:32
July 25
10 miles
Time 2:07:35
Ave Pace 12:46
Max Pace 8:54
*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*
I turn 40 on Wednesday.
My younger friends keep asking me, “So how does it feel to be 40?” Given that I’ve been trying to pull off 29 for eleven years, I don’t feel like I’ve aged 11 years overnight. I still feel the same.
I’m in the prime of my life. I loved my thirties and I can only expect the same or better of my forties. I’m where I want to be emotionally, spiritually and physically. I just feel all around good these days and I couldn’t be healthier or happier.
It feels good to be me at 40, like I’m on the edge of glory of my golden years.
Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.
This Saturday, our Little Lion Man will turn one. Where did the year go? How did we get from here…
…to here so quickly?
It makes me melancholy when I think how fast his first year flew by, but I’m grateful for every minute and how I can freeze frame moments like this in my mind and cherish them forever.
Happy 1st Birthday to my funny, beautiful, clever Little Lion Man, Liam!
Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.
Auntie Simone bought you a pretty pink princess ballerina dress with matching slippers for your birthday and it was your favorite present. In your new dress, you showed us your best poses and ballet positions.
But all that ballet and birthday party fun must have tuckered you out because you found a comfy spot to rest your sweet little ballerina face.
Since the day you were born, you’ve kept us on our toes and giggling every day. Over the past five years, I loved watching you grow from a cuddly baby into a rough and tough tomboy into a princess ballerina.
You’re bright.
You’re beautiful.
You’re fast.
You’re funny.
You make up the best stories. Probably because the things you’ve put your mama through over the years no one would believe, beginning with your birth.
As we rushed to the hospital five years ago, I feared that you would be born in the back of our mini-van on the side of the road. We arrived at the hospital at 8:20 a.m. and you were born 20 minutes later at 8:40 a.m.
As quickly as you arrived, everyone fell in love with you twice as quickly.
Happy 5th Birthday, Emmalynn!
